According to DCD, Amazon has filed a formal complaint with Oregon’s Public Utility Commission against Berkshire Hathaway-owned utility PacifiCorp. The cloud giant claims PacifiCorp has failed to meet power obligations dating back to 2021 for its AWS data centers in the state. One AWS campus currently has “insufficient power,” while a second campus has no power at all. PacifiCorp has reportedly refused to complete its standard contracting process for third and fourth data center campuses. Amazon operates its US West 2 Oregon region from these facilities, which includes four availability zones suggesting at least four operating data centers. The complaint comes after Amazon recently purchased 400 acres in Arlington, Oregon for further expansion.
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This Isn’t Just a Temporary Glitch
Here’s the thing – when Amazon says a data center has “no power at all,” we’re talking about a facility that should be humming with thousands of servers. These aren’t small operations. Amazon’s been building in Oregon since around 2011, with expansions in 2017, and they’ve got their entire US West 2 region running from these campuses. So what happens when the power literally can’t keep up with demand?
Basically, we’re seeing the physical limits of our digital expansion. Data centers are massive electricity hogs, and utilities are struggling to build out infrastructure fast enough. PacifiCorp isn’t some tiny local utility either – it’s owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. If they can’t keep up with Amazon’s power demands, that’s a pretty significant red flag for the entire industry.
Amazon’s Been Looking for Alternatives
What’s really interesting is that Amazon hasn’t been sitting around waiting. Back in 2023, they applied to power three data centers in Morrow County with Bloom Energy natural gas fuel cells. They only withdrew those plans in June 2024 after facing criticism. Now you have to wonder – were they exploring fuel cells specifically because PacifiCorp wasn’t delivering?
They also signed a power purchase agreement with Avangrid in February 2024 for a 98.4MW wind farm in Oregon. And that 400-acre purchase in Arlington? Amazon already noted it could be “many years” before they actually operate there due to the process of getting permits and electricity. They knew this was coming.
The Bigger Power Problem
This complaint reveals something crucial about the AI and cloud computing boom. Everyone’s focused on chips and software, but the real bottleneck might be much simpler: electricity. How many other tech companies are facing similar power constraints that we don’t hear about?
We’re watching a fundamental infrastructure crisis unfold. Data center demand is exploding thanks to AI, but the power grid wasn’t built for this. Utilities need years to plan and build new transmission lines and generation capacity. Tech companies need power yesterday. Something’s got to give.
Amazon’s complaint could become a landmark case that forces utilities and regulators to confront the reality that our digital economy is completely dependent on physical infrastructure that’s struggling to keep pace. This isn’t just Amazon’s problem – it’s everyone’s.
