1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to support House Bill 2515 and end the practice of subsidizing data centers at the expense of regular ratepayers. As State Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen recently acknowledged, years of state tax breaks aimed at attracting data centers have created "peak demand problems" that risk driving up electricity costs for regular customers. In his words, "I think in hindsight, we've kind of created a monster." Data centers are expected to be the biggest driver of increased electricity demand in the Pacific Northwest in coming years, driven by the AI boom. A preliminary report released in December by a state data center workgroup found that further data center growth in Washington would require "significant electric power grid expansion." Under current arrangements, these infrastructure costs are being passed onto everyday utility customers who did not create this demand and should not be forced to subsidize it. House Bill 2515 takes the right approach by requiring data centers to bear the full cost of connecting their facilities to the grid and other system upgrades needed to serve them. The legislation includes financial guarantees and exit fees to prevent utilities and other customers from absorbing costs if a facility scales back or shuts down. It also imposes a state fee on large data centers based on electricity use, with part of the revenue helping people pay utility bills and electrify their homes. The Data Center Coalition, representing major tech companies including Microsoft and Amazon, claims this legislation would make Washington "an outlier" and discourage investment. However, affordability for constituents must take priority over corporate subsidies. These are profitable companies that can afford to pay the true cost of their massive electricity demands. I urge you to vote yes on this legislation before the session ends on March 12. Data centers should pay their fair share, not shift costs onto families and small businesses already struggling with rising utility bills.