As cheap land and electricity are driving a wave of new data center development in Oklahoma, lawmakers have filed several bills to increase transparency, temporarily halt new developments and hold developers responsible for costs.
Oklahoma House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, has filed HB 4424, which would limit data centers’ eligibility for certain tax incentives. Currently, data centers can qualify for a program where the state covers a facility’s property taxes for the first five years.
Hilbert did not respond to requests for comment on the bill. He told Oklahoma Voice that he expects efforts to regulate data center development to be a main theme this legislative session.
The bills come as Oklahoma residents are pushing back against new data centers being developed in their communities, citing concerns for increases to energy bills, facility water consumption and noise. Local officials have courted data centers because of huge capital investments and the spike in construction jobs.
Beale Infrastructure, a developer of data center projects near Tulsa, said in a statement that the company does watch legislation that could affect data center development.
The company said it knows data center projects “raise important questions locally, and we welcome constructive conversations with lawmakers and community leaders about policies impacting the industry, and to reinforce our company’s commitment to responsibly build projects that strengthen local economies and communities.”
Sen. Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard, has introduced Senate Bill 1488, which would put a three-year moratorium on new data center projects in the state while the Oklahoma Corporation Commission conducts a study on the potential impact of data centers. Sacchieri said state officials need more information on the industry, and she expects widespread support for her proposed moratorium from Oklahoma residents.
“We just don’t know enough yet of the longer term effects these data centers will bring, and thus, we don’t know what types of regulations and guardrails need to be put into statute,” Sacchieri said in an email.
Sacchieri also wrote Senate Bill 1215, which would limit state and local governments from using nondisclosure agreements in most cases. The bill is not specific to data centers, but some tech companies have used non-disclosure agreements with local officials to conceal information from the public about new developments. Sacchieri said the bill would allow taxpayers to have “full knowledge” of what is happening with their tax dollars.
Rep. Brad Boles, R-Marlow, has filed House Bill 2992, which he says will keep residential users from having to pay increased utility rates because of data centers. Large, AI-focused data centers use as much power as 100,000 residential homes, according to the Pew Research Center, and Oklahoma’s power grid will have to expand to accommodate. Boles said he wants to make sure the costs are covered by these private companies rather than residential ratepayers.
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🔶 Donate Now“As these facilities grow, we, as the Legislature, must put guardrails in place so Oklahomans are not the ones footing the bill for new substations, transmission lines and other infrastructure upgrades,” Boles, chair of the House’s energy and natural resources oversight committee, said in a press release. Boles is also running for a seat on Oklahoma’s three-member Corporation Commission, which regulates large utilities, in 2026.
The bill is currently a shell bill, with no details about how this regulation will take place. Boles told The Frontier that one option he’s discussing with stakeholders could include adding a new electrical utility rate class for data centers that would pay for upgrades. Oklahoma’s AARP chapter came out in support of the bill earlier this month.
“We are so pleased that this is on the radar of both sides of the aisle with the consideration of looking after the consumer and how this will impact them,” said Joy McGill, advocacy director for AARP Oklahoma.
Rep. Mark Chapman, R-Broken Arrow, has authored House Bill 4194, which requires companies to decommission data centers within one year once facilities are no longer in use. This decommissioning would include removing all buildings and equipment, disposing of hazardous materials and environmental restoration of the land.
Rep. Amanda Clinton, D-Tulsa, wrote House Bill 3396, which would require certain details about large-scale projects be made public before any tax dollars or incentives could be approved. Another of Clinton’s bills, HB 3394, would task the Oklahoma Corporation Commission with maintaining a list of all large data centers in the state, including how much electricity and water they use annually. No state agency currently tracks that information, Clinton said.
“We’re all just seeking more transparency,” Clinton said. “I’ve probably been one of the more outspoken lawmakers on this issue, and I’m not even asking to put new regulation in place, or trying to put extra burdens on private industry. My approach is very measured.”
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