Lawmakers Mark Signing of Landmark Data Center Protections
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed two new laws to protect utility customers and groundwater resources from large-scale data center expansion. House Bill 2992 prevents data centers from shifting infrastructure costs to ratepayers, while Senate Bill 259 modernizes groundwater management, restricting certain cooling systems and requiring water-use reports. These measures ensure data centers pay their own way and use water conservatively.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, joined by House and Senate lawmakers, ceremonially signed two significant bills designed to regulate the expansion of large-scale data centers across the state. The legislation, House Bill 2992 (Data Center Customer Ratepayer Protection Act of 2026) and Senate Bill 259 (Groundwater Modernization Act), aims to safeguard Oklahoma utility customers and critical groundwater resources.
HB2992, authored by Rep. Brad Boles and Sen. Grant Green, took effect July 1. It prevents existing utility customers, including families and small businesses, from subsidizing the infrastructure costs associated with large energy users like data centers, cryptocurrency mining operations, and AI facilities. The law also mandates that developers notify adjoining landowners, county commissioners, and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission within 60 days of acquiring land for such projects.
SB259, by Sen. Brent Howard and Rep. Carl Newton, will take effect November 1. This act modernizes Oklahoma's groundwater permitting, monitoring, and reporting requirements, mandating annual water-use reports to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. Critically, it prohibits data centers from employing open-air evaporative cooling systems that consume groundwater through evaporation without recirculation. To obtain a groundwater permit, data centers must demonstrate the use of low-consumptive cooling technologies, such as closed-loop or dielectric immersion systems, to preserve water for local communities and agriculture.
Governor Stitt emphasized that these laws prioritize Oklahoma families and ensure that economic growth from energy-intensive industries is responsible and transparent, with these entities bearing their own costs rather than shifting them to ratepayers.