A Swiss company’s plans for a zero-carbon fertilizer plant and a data center north of Richland are moving forward despite citizens voicing concerns about the projects. 

Richland’s city council unanimously approved a $51.3 million transmission line agreement with Atlas Agro and Bonneville Power Administration on June 16, allowing the fertilizer company to move forward with the line servicing the city’s Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park.

Ultimately, the line would power a data center the Swiss company intends to build on the city’s land, as well as a fertilizer plant the company plans to build on Port of Benton land. The city council unanimously approved the agreement despite 16 members of the public speaking out against data centers. 

On June 10, Port of Benton commissioners also unanimously approved an extension on their agreement with Atlas Agro to buy land for a fertilizer plant. The extension gives the company until July 31, 2027, to complete pre-development activities. 

There were no public comments about Atlas Agro at the June 10 port meeting.

Atlas agreements

Atlas Agro first agreed to buy 150 acres of land from the port in March 2023, and the agreement has seen two extensions since then; the latest is the third amendment to the agreement. 

The project has been stalled by a long wait for BPA to bring in a power line to the area where Atlas Agro wants to build. The Swiss company has already invested millions of dollars into its project, including funds dedicated to the BPA transmission upgrade. 

In the meantime, the company also proposed building a $500 million data center on 275 acres of nearby land owned by the city of Richland. The city approved an option agreement with Atlas Agro in December 2025. The agreement doesn’t mean that Atlas Agro has bought the land yet: Instead, the city has a chance to evaluate the potential purchase. 

If the land sale goes through, the city would get just under $24 million, money which is already earmarked for the remodel of a vacant building into a new police station. The city would also get revenue from sales tax on the construction, annual property tax and electric utility occupation tax.

At the mid-June Richland council meeting, councilmembers unanimously approved an agreement with BPA and with Atlas Agro to have Atlas pay for engineering costs to complete 30% of the design phase and procure the long lead-time materials for BPA’s new transmission line and new Triton Substation. 

The final cost comes to $51.3 million, all paid for by Atlas Agro. This is the second such agreement the city has passed. The first was $6.2 million for 5% engineering. 

Concerned public

Citizens of Richland as well as other cities spoke out against Atlas Agro’s plans prior to the council’s vote. 

They expressed concerns about working with a company which hasn’t built anything before and about the possible long-term health risks associated with data centers, as well as water consumption and concerns about raising energy costs for residents.  

“How can we risk our power and our water for a company with a zero track record? I don’t trust them, and neither should you,” one said. “They are promising less than 50 permanent jobs for a $500 million project. This is not a good deal for our community.”

Another speaker drew comparisons to the health risks of the Hanford site, saying “if you vote for this data center, you have betrayed everyone in this community.”

Future decisions

Clint Whitney, the city’s Energy Services director, noted the agreements to move forward with a power line “are to continue advancing the transmission line design and order the long-lead item materials. That’s the extent of the agreements. They don’t build a data center and they don’t put the parameters on the data center.” 

If the long lead-time materials needed for the transmission line were ordered that day, they wouldn’t arrive until 2029, Whitney said. That leaves plenty of time for further discussions regarding the proposed data center, with more agreements to come. 

The council agreed the transmission line would be advantageous: whatever industry decides to develop in the Northwest Advanced Clean Energy Park, a power connection with a large capacity will be useful. Since Atlas Agro is making pre-payments, only the work they pay for will be completed. If the company backs out, there is no loss, the work will simply not be completed. 

If the company does go forward with its plans, Richland won’t be the one on the hook for the power, Whitney affirmed. Large load power is restricted, he said, meaning that Atlas Agro won’t be able to draw power from BPA or the Federal Columbia River Power System. 

Instead, the company will have to source its own power, while the city of Richland, as a utility, will facilitate that distribution of power. 

Electrical rates would not increase for Richland’s customers, Whitney said.