Data Centers

A recent forum in Tulsa convened on Sunday, Aug. 2 with neighbors, state lawmakers, and policy experts to talk about the influx of AI data centers in Oklahoma… and who really pays the cost.

Oklahoma passed a law last year allowing energy-hungry facilities to build their own power. But as data center announcements sprout up across Oklahoma, most include plans to work with local utilities.

The mayor of the City of Yukon will face a recall election. City leaders announced the petition's certification yesterday. This comes amid massive public pushback to a data center project in the city.

Amid the farm fields of northwest Oklahoma City, a place where high-voltage power lines converge has attracted interest from two data center developers, each seeking to build at the western terminus of a new $72 million transmission project.

House Bill 2992, signed on to by more than 30 lawmakers from both aisles, was sent to a conference committee for adjustments last week.

The project began phase one of construction earlier this year, but has faced controversy from Tulsa residents and officials.

House Bill 2992 would create the Data Center Customer Protection Act of 2026

Lawmakers advanced a bill that would reshape how Oklahoma tracks the water it pulls out of the ground. After a change during the legislative process, the measure would also add requirements for data centers seeking to use Oklahoma groundwater.

A proposed Google data center near Sand Springs moved one step closer to approval Tuesday night after the city’s Planning Commission voted 6-1 to recommend rezoning more than 800 acres of land in Osage County.

Ahead of the 2026 legislative session, elected officials filed dozens of environmental bills that range from reckoning with data centers to banning dams on a southeastern Oklahoma river.