Google has plans to expand its data center footprint in The Dalles, Ore., with a new 164,000 square foot building that is a wee bit larger than the two centers already up and running there.
The search giant last week submitted plans to the city to construct a data center that’s 75 to 80 feet high, higher than the 55-foot limit for industrial buildings in The Dalles.
Google opened its first two 94,000 square-foot data centers in The Dalles seven years ago and has invested $700 million in the area, according to The Oregonian.
Data centers don’t employ many workers, but they have sprung up in the Northwest with great frequency in recent years in part due to the cheap hydroelectric power from Columbia River. Last fall, Apple broke ground on a 338,000-square-foot, $68 million data-center building in Prineville, Ore. — the first of two giant structures planned for the property.
In addition to Apple and Facebook, Google and Amazon.com have large data centers in Oregon, while companies such as Microsoft, Yahoo and Intuit have put operations near Quincy, Washington.
