How a tax break for data centers snowballed into one of WA's biggest corporate giveaways

Washington leaders embraced energy-guzzling data centers with tax breaks even as the state pushed to phase out fossil fuels.

Reporting Highlights

• Job Promises: Washington lawmakers approved a tax break for data centers to create more jobs in rural Washington, but they can’t say how many jobs the state actually got.
• Snowballing Size: Repeated expansions turned a modest program to bring a budding industry to rural areas into one of the biggest corporate tax giveaways in the state.