Just 15 minutes apart, two Morrow County communities approached Eastern Oregon’s growing data center push from different perspectives this week.

On Thursday in Irrigon, residents at a city planning commission meeting raised concerns about future development.

That same evening, 14 miles away in Boardman, county officials and Amazon representatives hosted an event to promote data centers.

Morrow County has become one of Oregon’s biggest hubs for data center development, with companies like Amazon investing in the region.

County records show a California-based company, Copia Power, has proposed a 237-megawatt standalone battery storage facility about 6 miles from Irrigon that would connect to a substation in Boardman. The company has also taken steps to build a data center on federal land near Hermiston.

Large-scale battery parks are increasingly being tied to data centers around the globe as a way to store electricity when power is more abundant, so it can be used for data centers during spikes in local electricity demand.

As corporate interest in new facilities continues, so has public backlash nationwide.

In Tuesday’s midterm election voters across the country delivered dozens of rebukes to data centers, with at least 44 ballot measures on track to pass and impose more restrictions on developments that rely on ample electricity and water to help power the nation’s AI boom.

The Morrow County meetings this week show how Eastern Oregon communities are grappling with questions about how the projects affect residents, where they should be located and how much influence the public has over future developments.

At the Boardman event, Morrow County Commissioner Gus Peterson said county officials were trying to help answer those questions.

Amazon representatives and Morrow County Planning Department staff set up separate displays with posters and information about how data centers work and the process for getting one approved and zoned.

The turnout, he said, “wasn’t as few as he was afraid of, and not as many as I hoped for” — especially as concerns have amplified on social media.

Peterson underscored that the proposed Copia projects are not in city limits — the data center proposal is near Hermiston and the battery storage site would be outside of Irrigon and Boardman on land zoned for agriculture.

If Copia Power’s standalone battery storage site is approved by the county, he hopes it will create a path for data centers to rely less on diesel generators, which can contribute to air pollution.

“If we can avoid that, that’s a huge win for the county and for the folks who live here,” Peterson said.

He said Copia Power’s application is still under review. The company could not immediately be reached for comment.

At the Irrigon city event down the highway, farmer Barrett Dash was vocal about his opposition to more local data centers or infrastructure to support them. He questioned the benefits of having 11 data centers surrounding a town of 2,000 people, “with no grocery store in 2026.”

One of Dash’s main concerns is water, he said, emphasizing that people’s health should come before profits, and calling for more transparency from county officials.

Irrigon resident Gary David echoed Dash’s ask for more transparency on data centers infiltrating the county, emphasizing that it could eventually become a leader in air pollution.

“I’m not opposed to them, but there’s too many things, too many questions they have regarding them,” David said. “Data centers are going to throw all kinds of poisons in the air.”

Irrigon officials discussed putting out a draft survey to ask more residents about data centers.

Phil DeVries, a master’s student at Portland State University who is helping develop the survey, said questions would cover potential benefits, community concerns and which regulations or restrictions residents consider most important when it comes to future development.

DeVries did not announce a timeline for when the survey will be distributed to residents and said he is open to community feedback.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/11/06/morrow-county-data-center-growth-brings-promotion-and-pushback/