Google data-center campus
The Dalles / Wasco County · Google · Operating and expanded
Community profile
Classification: Majority White; below-state income
Geography: 97058 ZCTA
Income: 97058 median household income: $62,181; poverty: 11.4%
Race: The area is majority White with a meaningful Hispanic population.
Documented bargain
Benefits: Google fees and agreements helped fund local water-system upgrades and provide a durable industrial tax base.
Burdens: By 2024, reporting based on city records found Google’s three centers used about one-third of the city’s water; secrecy litigation delayed public understanding.
Power and government
Utilities: The campus benefits from Columbia River hydropower and municipal water infrastructure.
Public action: Oregon’s 2025 HB 3546 created a framework to assign large-load utility costs more directly to large users.
This long-running rural/small-city case shows that a majority-White community can still have modest income and limited water-system leverage.