Information provided as an individual city councilor and not at the direction of, or on behalf of, the Forest Grove City Council or staff

Questions We Can Answer and Those We Still Should Ask

Public discussion about the Crane data center has generated important questions about taxes, electricity, water, infrastructure, employment and impacts on neighboring residents.

Some of those questions have clear answers in existing City documents and agreements. Others deserve additional information as the project moves from development into operation.

My goal is to address questions and concerns and make sure our discussion starts with the best information available — acknowledging both what Forest Grove has already done to protect the community and where continued scrutiny is appropriate.

The Project and Its Location

The Crane Data Center at 3975 Heather Street received its local land-use approval in November 2024. The planned campus is significant, with Crane describing a peak electrical capacity of100 megawatts; not the same as continuous electrical consumption.

There is also an unfortunate reality that should not be minimized: this industrial development is adjacent to an established residential community.

Residents have legitimate concerns about noise, appearance, the environment and overall quality of life. Regardless of whether a development meets the standards in place when its application is submitted, those perceived impacts matter.

The City Council has since updated, in 2025, Forest Grove's development code and zoning standards to better address industrial development and its compatibility with surrounding neighborhoods. Those changes include industrial height restrictions and setbacks, along with stronger expectations for landscaping, buffering and screening.

The objective is straightforward: future industrial development should better reflect Forest Grove's values and the character of the community around it.

Why Can’t the City Change the Rules After an Application Is Submitted?

Oregon's land-use system generally requires a city to evaluate a development application under the comprehensive plan, zoning and development standards in effect when the application is submitted. Once an application is complete, the City must process it within state statutory timelines and evaluate it according to the land-use requirements that apply to the proposal.

A city cannot simply change its rules afterward to prevent a particular project that is already entitled to review under those standards. That is why the most important opportunity to shape future development comes before an application arrives — by establishing zoning, setbacks, height limits, buffering and other standards that reflect the community's expectations.

A 100 MW Data Center Does Not Become a 100 MW Residential Expense

One of the most striking comparisons being circulated is Crane's planned 100+ MW capacity compared with Forest Grove's existing electric demand. The scale is important. But the comparison requires context.

Crane's 100+ MW figure represents potential campus capacity at full buildout. Forest Grove's reported peak electrical load represents actual maximum demand on the existing municipal system. They are not directly comparable measurements.



More importantly, Forest Grove does not simply add Crane's enormous electrical demand to the costs being recovered from residential customers.

Because Forest Grove owns and operates its electric utility, the City established a separate New Large Single Load customer classification for extraordinarily large industrial electricity users, which pays a higher rate.

An important distinction that matters to residential rates.

Who Pays for the Electricity?

Crane does.

Under Forest Grove's large-load rate structure, the costs reasonably incurred to obtain the additional power, transmission and related services necessary to serve a large industrial customer are assigned to that customer.

If power is acquired based upon the customer's forecast demand and the customer does not use it, the rate structure also provides mechanisms for assigning those resulting costs to the large-load customer rather than other ratepayers.

Crane therefore pays a different rate structure than households and ordinary businesses.

The principle is simple: The extraordinary cost of serving extraordinary electrical demand should follow the customer creating that demand.

Forest Grove established this approach in 2025, before Oregon's more recent Power Act effort, and incorporated many of the same underlying principles: protect ordinary ratepayers and make very large energy users responsible for the costs associated with serving them.

One important difference is timing: the Power Act included a 60-day period before its provisions took effect, while Forest Grove’s protections were already in place.

Who Pays for Electrical Infrastructure?

Forest Grove's large-load rate includes mechanisms to recover costs attributable to serving the customer, including capital, operations, maintenance and overhead, in addition to the cost of power and transmission.

In other words, residents are not simply being handed the bill for the electrical infrastructure necessary to accommodate Crane's demand.

There are still details worth clarifying publicly, particularly ownership and responsibility for individual components of the onsite substation and upstream transmission infrastructure. Those answers should come from the final service and interconnection agreements rather than speculation.

Could Crane Actually Benefit Our Municipal Utility?

Potentially — and this is an important part of the equation.

Forest Grove's rate structure does more than pass through wholesale electricity costs. The large-load customer also pays delivery and other charges designed to recover the City's costs of providing service.

That means an extraordinarily large new customer can contribute revenue toward operating and maintaining our municipally owned electric system. It would be premature to characterize all of that revenue as "profit." Wholesale power and transmission expenses are substantial and are largely passed through to the customer.

But there is an important opportunity. As utility revenues support system reliability, energy efficiency, infrastructure replacement and potentially alternative energy generation, a major industrial customer can contribute toward investments that benefit the broader system and help mitigate future pressure on residential rates.

That is something we should measure and report as Crane becomes operational.

Understanding the Enterprise Zone Tax Exemption

Crane's Enterprise Zone agreement identifies approximately $275.3 million in estimated qualified investment. The agreement provides a five-year property-tax exemption, presently estimated to occur from approximately 2027 through 2031, depending upon when qualifying property is placed into service.

There is also a Construction in Process exemption available while qualified buildings and equipment are still under construction. Oregon law limits that exemption to no more than two consecutive tax years.

Once qualifying property is placed in service, the operating Enterprise Zone exemption applies.

The five-year exemption cannot simply be extended indefinitely. Forest Grove's Enterprise Zone has expired, and the deadline for obtaining another extension under that program has passed.

Is the Tax Exemption Worth $25 Million?

A figure of approximately $25 million has been circulated as a possible value of Crane's five-year property-tax exemption.

That number should be identified for what it is: a rough hypothetical estimate, not an established calculation of taxes.

The approximately $275 million figure represents estimated qualified investment. It is not necessarily equivalent to taxable assessed value maintained at $275 million for five consecutive years as equipment depreciates over time.

Oregon property-tax rules, depreciation, qualifying versus nonqualifying property, the timing of equipment entering service, Construction in Process treatment and County assessment practices all affect the actual exemption.

There is a very reasonable request contained within this debate, however.

As actual assessed values become known, residents should be able to see a simple accounting showing:

• Gross property taxes exempted

• Payments received under the Enterprise Zone agreement

• Net taxes forgone

• Taxing districts affected

• Expected taxable value following expiration of the exemption

That would replace estimates from either side of the debate with actual numbers.

Is Crane Really Required to Create Only One Job?

Yes — as a minimum requirement under the Enterprise Zone statute. Although, Crane reports the initial onsite employees will be 24 and will grow over time, and estimates 35-70 permanent jobs at full campus build out.

In addition to the onsite staff, Crane will contract with 30+ service partners who will regularly maintain critical equipment and facilities. The jobs will be driven by a combination of Crane, their clients, and the various manufacturing partners, telecom providers, etc.

The minimum requirement is a legitimate criticism of the employment thresholds permitted under Oregon's Enterprise Zone framework at the time. But "one job" does not describe the entirety of Crane's obligations under the agreement.

The agreement also includes employment and compensation requirements, a WorkSource Oregon First Source Hiring Agreement, community-service payments and school-support payments.

During years four and five of the exemption, Crane must make a Community Service Fee equal to 25% of the taxes otherwise abated for those years. It must also make a School Support Fee to the State equal to another 15% of the taxes otherwise abated during those years.

That does not make the one-job minimum unimportant. It does provide necessary context when evaluating what the community receives under the agreement.

What Happens When the Tax Exemption Ends?

The exemption is temporary. When qualifying property reaches the end of its exemption period, it returns to the property-tax rolls under Oregon's applicable assessment rules. That includes property tax on the servers and equipment deployed within the data center.

Given the magnitude of the investment, Crane is expected to become one of Forest Grove's largest property taxpayers, generating ongoing revenue for the City and other taxing districts.

That long-term revenue should also be included when evaluating the complete fiscal impact of the project — alongside the taxes temporarily exempted.

What About Water?

Forest Grove water system capacity currently reports approximately:

• 9.5 million gallons per day of rated water-system capacity
• 3 million gallons per day of average demand
• 4.5 million gallons per day of peak demand

Crane estimated 9,000 gallons for the initial fill for their closed-loop cooling system, after which the cooling fluid is continuously recirculated rather than consumed through evaporation.

The “zero ongoing water consumption” is Crane's characterization of its cooling system, not yet a City-verified measurement of the operating facility. Municipal water will still be needed for normal building and operational uses, and the actual daily demand should be documented as the facility becomes operational.

What we do not yet have publicly established with sufficient precision is the completed campus's expected potable-water consumption at full buildout. Crane has estimated 250 - 500 gallons per day, and constructed a rain water harvesting system for non-potable water purposes.

The City already has mechanisms for charging large developments for connections and applicable system-development costs. But residents should ultimately know the project's expected daily potable-water requirement, whether additional upstream improvements are necessary, who pays for them, and whether any resulting improvements provide broader system benefits.

Noise, Generators and Air Quality

These are also appropriate questions, particularly because of the project's proximity to homes.

Backup generation is part of the project.

8 backup generators have been installed for the initial phase of development and will consume hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), a plant based fuel.

Subsequent phases of development will deploy back up generators and also consume HVO. The backup generators are planned to be tested monthly.

Public project information describes redundant backup-generation capability, but several operational details deserve clearer public documentation:

• How many generators will ultimately operate at full campus buildout?
• What are their permitted emissions?
• What are the modeled nighttime noise levels at nearby residences?
• What air-quality analysis applies to the completed campus?
• What monitoring will occur after operations begin?

Asking those questions does not mean asserting that Crane presents a health hazard. It means recognizing that a very large industrial facility next to an established residential community deserves appropriate measurement, transparency and accountability.

Could Forest Grove Have Negotiated More?

This is a fair policy question, but it is different from establishing a fact.

Oregon's Enterprise Zone program established the statutory framework within which the City operated.

Forest Grove had not established more stringent provisions prior to the Enterprise Zone application, including the number of permanent jobs, community-service payments, school-support payments, and compensation requirements.

The productive question now is what we learn from this project and what standards Forest Grove and Oregon should require of the next major industrial development. The City Council allowed its Enterprise Zone program to expire and will wait until the Legislature adopts changes to Oregon's Enterprise Zone program.

What Forest Grove Has Changed

Forest Grove is not operating under precisely the same conditions that existed when Crane entered the development process.

The City has subsequently:

• Updated industrial zoning and development standards to better address compatibility with neighboring properties.
• Created protections for electric customers through a distinct large-load rate structure that assigns extraordinary power and transmission costs to the extraordinary user creating them.
• Allowed the existing Enterprise Zone to expire, providing an opportunity to reconsider whether and under what conditions Forest Grove should participate in future tax-abatement programs, after the 2027 legislative session.

Questions Answered — and Questions Still Worth Asking

We know Crane is responsible through its large-load electric rate for costs attributable to its extraordinary power and transmission demand.

We know the Enterprise Zone exemption is temporary.

We know the "one job" minimum is real — but is not the only obligation contained in the agreement.

We know the $25 million tax-abatement figure being discussed is an estimate rather than an established calculation.

We know Forest Grove has subsequently changed its development standards.

And we know legitimate questions remain about full-buildout water consumption, generator emissions and testing, nighttime noise, infrastructure ownership, actual taxes exempted and the ultimate financial contribution Crane makes to our municipal utility.

Those are the questions worth continuing to pursue.

Learn From the Project — and Improve the Next One

Data centers present communities with an unusual combination of challenges. They consume enormous amounts of electricity, require substantial infrastructure and can create significant impacts without generating the employment levels traditionally associated with industrial investment.

They can also represent hundreds of millions of dollars of private investment, become major utility customers and eventually contribute substantial property-tax revenue.

Both things can be true.

Our responsibility is to understand those tradeoffs, protect existing residents and businesses, require large users to pay the costs they create, and continually improve our standards as technology and development change.

That is the approach Forest Grove has increasingly taken — and it is the standard I believe we should continue to apply.



Ask the questions. Protect the community. Learn from what we build.

👉 Where I Stand on Data Centers

Reach out directly: bschimmel@forestgrove-or.gov