Electric ratepayer protection bill awaits Senate vote

The proposed Data Center Customer Ratepayer Protection Act of 2026, also known as House Bill 2992, has successfully advanced through the Oklahoma Senate Energy Committee with a unanimous 9-0 vote and is now awaiting a full Senate floor vote. The legislation, co-authored by Rep. Brad Boles (R-Marlow) and Sen. Grant Green (R-Wellston), seeks to safeguard Oklahoma consumers and ratepayers from incurring the electrical power infrastructure costs associated with new large-load data centers and crypto mining facilities. According to Sen. Green, the amended bill mandates that all electric suppliers establish and maintain distinct terms, conditions, and tariffs specifically for large load customers. These provisions must include credit requirements and other measures to ensure that data centers fully reimburse utilities for all allocated costs, including those that might otherwise remain unrecovered if a customer reduces their load or departs the system. The required term of service for such customers is set at a minimum of 10 years. Green emphasized that the intent is to ensure that entities placing significant strain on the electrical grid are responsible for the necessary new infrastructure costs, thereby preventing these expenses from being passed on to residential, industrial, agriculture, and commercial ratepayers through higher utility rates. The bill is the sole measure of its kind still active in the current legislative session and has garnered bipartisan support, arising from widespread concerns about the impact of large-load data centers on the state's power grid and utility costs.