Seattle City Council voted unanimously on June 9, 2026, to impose a one-year moratorium on the construction of new large AI datacenters in the city [1, 2]. The ban applies to datacenters consuming more than 20 megavolt-amperes (MW) of power and will pause new projects targeting significant energy demand [1, 2]. Mayor Katie Wilson supports the moratorium and plans to sign it into law. She said, "There are times when public pressure forces elected officials to do something they don’t want to do... this was one of those latter cases" [1].

The moratorium allows existing datacenters, of which there are about 30 in Seattle, to apply for expansions requiring up to 20 megawatts during the pause [1, 2]. However, five proposed new datacenters combined would consume 369 megawatts, nearly one-third of Seattle’s average daily electricity demand [3]. The scale of these new projects raised concerns among local tech workers and residents about energy use, electricity costs, job displacement, and environmental impact [1, 3, 2]. Liesl Wigand, a senior software engineer at Amazon, said, "The biggest issue is a belief that AI should be how we solve everything, while ignoring the resources that it costs" [3].

Seattle is the largest U.S. city to enact a moratorium specifically targeting AI datacenters [1]. City officials plan to study the effects of AI datacenters on water and electricity use, utility rates, land use, jobs, and public health during the moratorium period [2]. The moratorium could be extended for an additional six months depending on the findings [2].

The decision followed two City Council hearings on June 2, where dozens of tech employees and residents testified in favor of pausing new datacenter projects [3]. Earlier reporting in April highlighted the potentially massive energy demands of the proposed datacenters, prompting intensified public discussion [1, 2].

Seattle’s AI investments in 2026 are estimated at $390 billion, underscoring the rapid growth and stakes involved [1]. The city will use the moratorium period to assess how best to manage this growth sustainably. The mayor’s expected signing will formally enact the pause, starting the year-long review of new AI datacenter construction in Seattle [1, 2].