A QPQ Tracker study · Oregon · 2023–2026
Oregon: who paid for the data centers and what the state decided
Oregon had no contribution limits in this period. Amazon gave $824,750, Portland General Electric $583,250, PacifiCorp $435,500 and Google $221,500. The largest single gifts went to a ballot committee against a sales tax. Gov. Tina Kotek took $132,500 from the payer set.
HB 3546, the POWER Act, created a separate rate class for data centers of 20 megawatts or more. It passed the House 41-16 and the Senate 18-12 on party lines, and was signed June 16, 2025. The Public Utility Commission set PGE’s data center schedule in May 2026 with the Data Center Coalition and Amazon as parties. HB 4084 paused new enterprise-zone authorizations for data centers in 2026, after they took $85M in benefits that year.
Kotek paused state land actions for data centers in September 2026 and asked the environmental agency to pause their permits until July 2027. Twenty-six legislators’ votes are loaded from the Legislature’s own roll calls.
Who paid
Each company's direct giving from its treasury and employee PAC, as filed in Oregon. Executives' personal cheques, super PAC spending and lobbying are different kinds of money and are not added here.
| Payer | Class | Direct giving in Oregon | Filings (every state the payer files in) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | Hyperscaler | $824,750 | |
| Portland General Electric | Utility | $583,250 | |
| PacifiCorp | Utility | $435,500 | Filings and recipients → |
| Hyperscaler | $221,500 | ||
| Microsoft | Hyperscaler | $31,000 | |
| Umatilla Electric Cooperative | Utility | $24,052 | Filings and recipients → |
Who took it
The Oregon officeholders and candidates who received the most from the payer set, and what each did on the state's data center measures: the votes they cast, the bills they authored, the orders they signed. A yea is a vote for the measure as titled.
4 actions on measures
- shapedGov. Kotek asks DEQ to pause data center air and water permits until Jul 1, 2027 (Oct 9, 2026)Proposed
- shapedGov. Kotek pauses state land actions for data center projects (Sept 8, 2026)Enacted
- shapedHB 4084: pause on new standard enterprise zone authorizations for data centers, Chapter 50Enacted
- shapedHB 3546: the POWER Act, Chapter 323, Oregon Laws 2025Enacted
2 measures voted on · 1 action on a measure
- advocated forHB 3546: the POWER Act, Chapter 323, Oregon Laws 2025Enacted
- YeaHB 4084: pause on new standard enterprise zone authorizations for data centers, Chapter 50Enacted
- YeaYeaHB 3546: the POWER Act, Chapter 323, Oregon Laws 2025Enacted
2 measures voted on
- YeaHB 4084: pause on new standard enterprise zone authorizations for data centers, Chapter 50Enacted
- YeaHB 3546: the POWER Act, Chapter 323, Oregon Laws 2025Enacted
2 measures voted on · 2 actions on measures
- advocated forSB 553 and HB 3698: data center energy study and water/electricity reporting (died in committee)Failed
- advocated forHB 3546: the POWER Act, Chapter 323, Oregon Laws 2025Enacted
- NayHB 4084: pause on new standard enterprise zone authorizations for data centers, Chapter 50Enacted
- YeaHB 3546: the POWER Act, Chapter 323, Oregon Laws 2025Enacted
2 measures voted on · 1 action on a measure
- advocated forHB 3546: the POWER Act, Chapter 323, Oregon Laws 2025Enacted
- YeaHB 4084: pause on new standard enterprise zone authorizations for data centers, Chapter 50Enacted
- YeaYeaHB 3546: the POWER Act, Chapter 323, Oregon Laws 2025Enacted
2 measures voted on · 1 action on a measure
- advocated forHB 3546: the POWER Act, Chapter 323, Oregon Laws 2025Enacted
- YeaHB 4084: pause on new standard enterprise zone authorizations for data centers, Chapter 50Enacted
- YeaYeaHB 3546: the POWER Act, Chapter 323, Oregon Laws 2025Enacted
2 measures voted on · 1 action on a measure
- advocated forHB 3546: the POWER Act, Chapter 323, Oregon Laws 2025Enacted
- YeaHB 4084: pause on new standard enterprise zone authorizations for data centers, Chapter 50Enacted
- YeaYeaHB 3546: the POWER Act, Chapter 323, Oregon Laws 2025Enacted
2 measures voted on
- YeaHB 4084: pause on new standard enterprise zone authorizations for data centers, Chapter 50Enacted
- YeaYeaHB 3546: the POWER Act, Chapter 323, Oregon Laws 2025Enacted
Christine Drazan
2 measures voted on
- YeaHB 4084: pause on new standard enterprise zone authorizations for data centers, Chapter 50Enacted
- YeaNayHB 3546: the POWER Act, Chapter 323, Oregon Laws 2025Enacted
2 measures voted on
- YeaHB 4084: pause on new standard enterprise zone authorizations for data centers, Chapter 50Enacted
- NayHB 3546: the POWER Act, Chapter 323, Oregon Laws 2025Enacted
The 12 largest recipients of any kind, committees included
| # | Recipient | Kind | From the payer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Defeat the Costly Tax on Sales | PAC or committee | $550,000 |
| 2 | Portland Alliance PAC | PAC or committee | $138,000 |
| 3 | Tina Kotek | person | $132,500 |
| 4 | Oregon Business & Industry Candidate PAC | PAC or committee | $106,050 |
| 5 | Oregon Business & Industry Issues PAC | PAC or committee | $100,000 |
| 6 | Evergreen PAC (Oregon) | PAC or committee | $46,500 |
| 7 | Julie Fahey | person | $41,500 |
| 8 | Sustainable Agriculture and Energy Political Action Committee | PAC or committee | $40,000 |
| 9 | Sdlf | PAC or committee | $34,000 |
| 10 | Future PAC, House Builders (Oregon) | PAC or committee | $32,500 |
| 11 | Rob Wagner | person | $30,500 |
| 12 | Friends of Ben Bowman | PAC or committee | $29,500 |
What they decided
Every Oregon bill, regulator's order, executive action and election the study tracks, with its result, its recorded vote and the people and companies on the record for it. Each links to the official document.
Oregon8 measures
- Executive actionProposedOct 9, 2026Tina Kotek shaped
- Executive actionEnactedSep 8, 2026Tina Kotek shaped
- Regulator's orderUnder appealMay 7, 2026
- BillEnactedMar 31, 2026House last roll 5–0 among 5 loaded members, Mar 4, 2026Senate last roll 3–2 among 5 loaded members, Mar 6, 202610 votes loadedTina Kotek shaped
- Regulator's orderPendingDec 16, 2025
- BillFailedJun 27, 2025Janeen Sollman advocated for
- BillEnactedJun 16, 2025House last roll 5–1 among 6 loaded members, Jun 5, 2025Senate last roll 3–1 among 4 loaded members, Jun 3, 202516 votes loadedJulie Fahey advocated for; Pam Marsh advocated for; Mark Owens (Oregon) advocated for; Dacia Grayber advocated for; Jeff Golden advocated for; Janeen Sollman advocated for
- Regulator's orderUnder appealDec 19, 2024
How to read this page
The money is corporate-treasury and employee-PAC giving reported in Oregon’s own filing system, the ORESTAR transaction exports, from January 2023 to the latest filing loaded (627 contributions, January 2023 to October 2026). Transfers between a politician’s own committees, conduit memo lines and gifts from the opposing side are left out. Executives’ personal cheques, super PAC spending, 527 transfers and lobbying are different kinds of money. The report keeps them apart, and the written part of this page names them as such. Nothing on this page adds across kinds.
The votes are the legislature’s own roll calls, loaded for the members the study follows. A yea is a vote for the measure as titled. The measures are the bills, commission orders, executive actions and elections the study identified; each links to its official record.
Every payer total was reconciled against the payer’s own reports where the state publishes them. The checks are in the report’s verification log. Figures on this page were last recomputed on October 31, 2026. Correlation is not proof of causation; the record shows what was paid and what was decided.