Boardman / Umatilla Data Centers and Infrastructure

What the public record shows about data center growth, electricity infrastructure, agriculture, and the sequence of development in northeastern Oregon.

What we know so far

Amazon Web Services began operating the PDX-4 data center in the Boardman area in 2013. Public records show that data center development was underway before some of the major electrical infrastructure later associated with increased regional demand was completed.BPA records identify existing 115-kV delivery infrastructure serving the Boardman area before PDX-4 began operating. BPA later described the Morrow Flat substation expansion as serving increased demand from new data centers, food-processing facilities, and existing development.That sequence raises an important question this case study is still investigating: what infrastructure initially supplied the data center, what additional infrastructure was built as demand grew, and how were the costs and risks of that expansion allocated?

Electricity infrastructure

Boardman already had significant electrical delivery infrastructure before PDX-4 began operating, and later BPA records document additional expansion as regional demand grew.The evidence reviewed so far shows that data centers were one of several sources of increased demand alongside food-processing facilities and existing development. What it does not yet establish is the exact share of that demand attributable to PDX-4 or PDX-1, which specific feeders and substations served them at each stage, or how the costs of later upgrades were divided.That distinction matters. This case study is not trying to prove that one data center caused an entire transmission project. It is tracing how large new industrial loads fit into a regional system, what had to be expanded around them, and who ultimately paid for those changes.

Why the infrastructure picture is hard to pin down

Public records show pieces of the Boardman power story, but not yet the full chain.We can see that PDX-4 was operating in 2013, that Boardman already had 115-kV delivery infrastructure before then, and that BPA later expanded Morrow Flat as regional demand increased. What the available records do not yet show clearly is which exact facilities initially supplied the data center, how the system changed as demand grew, and how expansion costs were assigned among data centers, food processors, utilities and other development.That is why this case study is tracking system-impact studies, facilities studies, interconnection records, diagrams, feeder and substation identifiers, and related correspondence rather than relying on a single project description.

Infrastructure

The Boardman case is less about a single facility than about the network built around regional growth.Existing BPA records show that Boardman already had 115-kV delivery infrastructure before PDX-4 began operating. Later records document the Morrow Flat expansion as demand increased from data centers, food-processing plants and other development.What is still missing is the detailed map between those facts: which substations and feeders served the data center at each stage, what upgrades were triggered as load increased, and which costs were assigned to individual customers versus the broader utility system.Those details matter because infrastructure decisions can outlast the projects that initially drove them. This case study is therefore tracking not just whether new electrical facilities were built, but how responsibility for those investments was allocated and who ultimately carried the risk.

What happened when

2011
BPA outage records show two Umatilla Electric Cooperative 115-kV delivery circuits serving the Boardman area before PDX-4 began operating.2013
Amazon Web Services’ PDX-4 data center began operating in the Boardman area.November 13, 2013
BPA records identify the Morrow Flat substation project as regional electricity demand was increasing.August 8, 2014
BPA received federal approval for the Morrow Flat project.What the sequence tells us
PDX-4 was already operating before the Morrow Flat expansion was completed. That means an earlier power-supply path existed.BPA later described increased demand in the area as coming from new data centers, food-processing plants and existing development. The records reviewed so far do not establish exactly which infrastructure initially supplied PDX-4 or how later expansion costs were divided among those sources of demand.

What the records establish

EstablishedBoardman had electrical delivery infrastructure before PDX-4. BPA outage records from 2011 identify two Umatilla Electric Cooperative 115-kV delivery circuits in the Boardman area.PDX-4 was operating by 2013. That places the data center in operation before completion of the later Morrow Flat expansion.Regional electricity demand was increasing. BPA records describe increased demand associated with new data centers, food-processing plants and existing development.Additional infrastructure followed. The Morrow Flat project expanded electrical infrastructure serving the area after PDX-4 began operating.What these records do not establish is equally important: they do not yet tell us precisely which infrastructure initially supplied PDX-4, how much of the later demand was attributable to individual data centers, or how the costs of expansion were allocated among customers and the broader system.Still investigatingSeveral important pieces of the Boardman infrastructure story remain unresolved.Initial power supply
What specific substations, feeders and transmission infrastructure supplied PDX-4 when it first began operating?Infrastructure triggers
Which data-center loads contributed to later system upgrades, and what studies were used to determine when those upgrades were necessary?Cost allocation
How were the costs of new substations, transmission facilities and other upgrades divided among AWS, Umatilla Electric Cooperative, BPA, other industrial customers and the broader system?Load growth
How much electricity did individual data-center campuses require as they expanded, and how did that demand compare with agriculture, food processing and other regional loads?Planning and correspondence
What do system-impact studies, facilities studies, interconnection agreements, diagrams and correspondence show about how utilities planned for data-center growth?Records requests seeking several of these materials are still pending. As those records are received and reviewed, this case study will be updated.

Sources & primary records

This case study relies primarily on public records and government documents. Sources reviewed so far include:Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)
Transmission planning, outage, project and environmental records related to Boardman-area electrical infrastructure and the Morrow Flat project.Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)
Records documenting the operation and regulatory history of Amazon data-center facilities in the Boardman area.Umatilla Electric Cooperative (UEC)
Public information and records concerning the local electrical system and infrastructure serving the Boardman area.Federal and local public records
Additional records concerning infrastructure development, permitting, utilities and regional industrial growth.Additional source documents will be added as outstanding records requests are fulfilled and reviewed.Key records being examined

About this case study

Clouds on the Range treats this as an ongoing investigation. Findings are separated from unanswered questions, and figures are identified according to what the underlying source actually measures.As additional public records are obtained and reviewed, this page will be updated. Where possible, primary records will be linked so readers can examine the evidence themselves.Last updated: August 19, 2026

Clouds on the Range is a project of Agricultural Data Center Research examining how data center development intersects with agriculture, water, energy, infrastructure and rural communities.

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