Maybe it’s because my wife and I don’t watch much regular TV, aside from sports and news, but last night was the first time I’d seen the Oregon Connects pro-data center 30 second ad on the KGW (Portland) 11 pm news.
I say this because the Oregon Capital Chronicle had a story about Oregon Connects on July 28, 2026, which admittedly was just two months ago. Here’s an excerpt from “Pro-data center industry group behind ad campaign in Oregon, six other states.”
Just days before the Oregon Legislature in March passed a one-year pause on a popular tax incentive program for data centers, a group called Oregon Connects registered as a nonprofit business in the state. Then the ads started appearing.
“From homes to hospitals to businesses, Oregon’s data centers are unlocking a smarter power grid for our communities,” a female voice reads over a montage that includes a few aerial shots of downtown Portland and the Oregon Coast. “They’re investing billions in clean energy, creating good-paying jobs, driving innovation and building a better energy future.”
The 30-second ads, which feature B-roll of a family cooking together, a nurse and a business owner, are a near-carbon copy of ads playing across TV and social media in at least six other states. They all attempt to counter common critiques of data centers, including their enormous demand for water, energy, land and relatively low levels of job creation compared to the tax breaks they receive to spur economic development. And they end with a similar line: “Oregon’s data centers: committed to paying their costs, so Oregon families don’t.”
This screenshot seems to go against the facts as I understand them. It sure seems that data centers are partially responsible for rapidly rising electricity bills in Oregon, and have gotten hundreds of millions of dollars of local property tax breaks each year that siphon money away from schools and other government services.
Here’s the cheery Oregon Connects video that I believe is the one I saw last night. There’s other videos on the Oregon Connects web site.
This is what’s on the Oregon Connects About page.
Oregon Connects is a nonprofit organization founded by the Data Center Coalition representing stakeholders who support the essential infrastructure data centers provide in our daily lives and modern 21st-century economy.
Data centers in Oregon are the foundation of our connected world, linking communities and powering critical services such as healthcare, education, and public safety. They fuel innovation across every sector of our economy while delivering meaningful benefits to the communities they call home.
Oregon Connects’ mission is to educate and engage with Oregonians about the state’s thriving data center industry, fostering a bright future for businesses, communities, and individuals throughout Oregon.
I’m about halfway through the documentary showing on Netflix, “The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist.” The title reflects how I feel about AI and data centers — a mixture of fear, apprehension, worry, hope, anticipation, and enjoyment (I love using Claude AI).
We need to hear from both the doomsayers — we’re all going to die from AI! — and the techno optimists — life will be hugely better with AI!
Likely the truth will be somewhere in the middle. AI will bring us many benefits. AI also will bring us many problems. Wise oversight and regulation is needed to make the benefits outweigh the problems.
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