...Building ‘the cloud’ in Central Oregon
(From Page 1)
Local 29, Cement Masons Local 555,
Heat and Frost Insulators Local 36,
Painters Local 10, Roofers Local 49,
Operating Engineers Local 701, Car-
penters, and Laborers.
Burger, a business agent for Tu-
alatin-based Local 290 who lives in
Redmond, explained why the giant tech
companies like the Prineville area so
much:
1) Data centers need to keep their
closely packed servers cool, and the
high desert climate in Central Oregon is
great for that purpose. “We have 300
days a year with freezing temperatures,”
he said, “so the area offers lots of free
cooling and low humidity.”
Low humidity is even more impor-
tant than low temperatures. That’s be-
cause where humidity is low, super-
high-tech data centers can use a version
of low-tech swamp cooler technology
that dates back to ancient Persia. On a
second story — above the long halls of
servers — evaporating water can cool
very efficiently. The high desert’s natu-
ral cooling capability means data cen-
ters there don’t need to rely on mechan-
ical air conditioning, which provides a
huge cost savings.
2) Even with the natural or “free
cooling,” data centers still require a lot
of power and Central Oregon has lots of
cheap hydroelectric power available.
Mike Baker, a member of IBEW Local 280 employed at Rosendin Electric,
installs a buss fuse at Building 1 of Facebook’s data center complex in
Prineville.
Prineville sits just four miles off Bon-
neville Power Administration’s (BPA)
main transmission line to California,
and the agency is speeding up expan-
sion of a substation to serve the new
data centers.
Andrew Blum, a writer at Wired
magazine, told the Oregonian newspa-
per recently that data centers “are kind
of like the aluminum smelters of the In-
ternet.”
In fact, data centers are now using
more and more of the electricity once
used to power the region’s aluminum
plants before they were shut down. The
Northwest Power Council projects that
data centers may be using 10 percent of
the Northwest’s energy — two-thirds of
the aluminum industries peak in the
1980s. Put in perspective, Oregon data
centers already are using as much elec-
tricity as 239,000 homes.
3) Oregon offers huge tax advan-
tages to high-tech industries, including
data centers. No sales tax means com-
panies can purchase equipment cheaper,
and locating in an “enterprise zone”
brings a 15-year property tax exemption
on buildings and machinery.
Burger related how forward-looking
Crook County and Prineville city offi-
cials were when they assembled huge
tracts of “bare land — no farming or
grazing, just sagebrush” — into enter-
prise zones to attract high tech invest-
ment.
Jason Carr, Prineville manager of
Economic Development for Central
Oregon (EDCO), said another 500 to
600 acres are sitting ready for develop-
ment today.
Carr defended the tax breaks, point-
ing out that Facebook and Apple will
pay property taxes on their land, and
franchise fees to the City for their elec-
tricity, as well as voluntary payments in
lieu of taxes.
And while acknowledging that the
data centers will provide very few long-
term jobs, he still characterized the de-
velopments as “a pretty big boon for the
city.” When Facebook’s project is com-
pleted, he estimates that long-term em-
ployment will be “close to 100 full time
employees with health benefits.”
Oregon’s construction workers
aren’t complaining either.
Several members of Local 290 who
live in Central Oregon talked to the La-
bor Press prior to a union meeting in
Redmond.
“I sat home for a year-and-a-half.
Now I’m back to the tools,” said Jeffrey
Nelson, who has 21 years in the trade.
Nelson said he enjoys the regular
work, too — Monday through Friday,
eight hours a day, 40 hours a week,
without much overtime.
Foreman Steve Kerr, who lives in
John Day, said it’s nice to work locally.
“Now I can go home every weekend. I
could make it for my grandkid’s birth,”
Chris Rockwood, a plumber with a
wife and two kids, was out of work
for a year-and-a-half. “Eighteen
months with no work was
challenging,” he said.
Foreman Steve Kerr, who lives in
John Day, pointed out how nice it is
to work locally. “Now I can go home
every weekend. I could make it for
my grandkid’s birth,” he said.
he said.
Fitter Brent Bishop said before Face-
book broke ground he sat out of work
for a year. “It was real ugly. I lost my
insurance. This is the steadiest and
(Turn to Page 8)
DON’T FORGET TO VOTE MARY
NOLAN FOR CITY COUNCIL
PROUDLY ENDORSED BY:
Portland Firefighters Association
IBEW Local 48
AFSCME Local 189, Local 328, Council 75
SEIU Local 49
ILWU Local 8 and Oregon State Council
Portland Police Association
Columbia Pacific Building Trades
Roofers Local 49
Sheet Metal Workers Local 16
Carpenters Local 156
Teamsters Joint Council 37
Painters & Allied Trades District Co. 5
Laborers Local 320
Operating Engineers Local 701
Laborers Local 296, Local 320 and District Council
With a record of
protecting
economic
fairness and
advancing
family-wage jobs.
(Paid for and authorized by Mary Nolan for City Council)
NOVEMBER 2, 2012
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
PAGE 5