Sen. Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard, introduced Senate Bill 1488, which proposes a moratorium on the construction of new data centers in Oklahoma until Nov. 1, 2029. The measure also would direct the Oklahoma Corporation Commission to study long-term effects that data centers might be expected to have on infrastructure and resources.
“As data centers continue to grow rapidly across Oklahoma, we are confronting serious unknowns about how these large facilities affect our communities, our utilities, and our natural resources,” Sacchieri said in a release. “This bill stems from those unknowns.”
She said Oklahomans want to know more about pressures that the centers might put on local water supplies, the impacts they might have on electricity rates and their influences on property values, among other things. If SB 1488 passes into law, the moratorium would provide time for the Corporation Commission to study data center impacts and generate a report to inform future policy discussions and decisions made by the Oklahoma Legislature.
“There may be better solutions out there than what we are currently doing — which is allowing data centers to be sited anywhere and everywhere without thinking through the long-term effects and repercussions,” Sacchieri said.
She said the state needs more time to tailor policies and laws to protect communities while at the same time safeguarding economic prospects.
“The goal is not to halt progress, but to ensure that progress does not come at the expense of Oklahomans’ quality of life or their utility costs,” the Blanchard Republican said. “We owe it to our communities to understand what we don’t yet know before we make irreversible decisions about where and how these facilities are built.”
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