Oklahoma City data center campus invests in off-grid power plant
Scale Datacenters is developing a 100-megawatt behind-the-meter natural gas power plant to serve its data center campus at the former Chesapeake Energy site in Oklahoma City. The company has submitted air-quality permit applications, which the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality is reviewing, as state lawmakers consider how to regulate the growing data center industry.
Scale Datacenters is reusing buildings at the former Chesapeake Energy campus in Oklahoma City for its data center operations and is developing an on-site 100-megawatt natural gas power plant. CEO Trevor Francis told Oklahoma lawmakers that the behind-the-meter facility will operate independently of the electric grid and was designed to blend into the urban setting. The company imported used generators from Bulgaria to avoid delays affecting new natural gas equipment.
Scale Datacenters submitted air-quality permit applications to the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality in September, and the agency is conducting a technical review. Francis said the company employs 450 people and is also developing a facility in southeastern Oklahoma. The project was discussed during a legislative interim study focused on data center electricity demand, water use and potential regulation, with testimony from state agencies, utilities, elected officials, researchers and Google representatives.