Proposed Legislation Pending in Oklahoma State Legislature Would Impact Responsibility for Payment of Costs Associated with Data Centers and Other Large Load Facilities
Several proposed bills targeting data centers have been proposed in the 2026 session of the Oklahoma State Legislature. Most of these bills failed to make it out of committee; however, one bill – HB 2992 –passed the State House of Representatives on March 23, 2026 by a vote of 92-2, indicating a broad level of bipartisan support at least in the House. The bill is currently under consideration by the State Senate.
Purpose
HB 2992, titled the “Data Center Customer Protection Act of 2026,” is designed to protect residential, commercial, and industrial electricity ratepayers from bearing “unjust” costs associated with providing electric service to new, large-scale data center, cryptocurrency mining, and artificial intelligence computing facilities. The lead sponsor of the bill is Representative Brad Boles, R-Marlow. Representative Boles has described the bill by stating “…what this is going to do is basically make sure that the data centers pay for their portion of infrastructure costs. So, for instance, if there’s a new power facility going in, and let’s say 80% of that facility is dedicated to a data center, 20% is dedicated to residential, industrial, the data center will pay for 80% of their infrastructure costs, which would be all 100% of their costs that they brought to the grid.”
Key Definitions
- “Large load customer” is defined as new data centers, new cryptocurrency mining operations, and new AI computing facilities that contract with an electric supplier to add 75 megawatts or more of electric load per facility (or in aggregate behind a single point of interconnection) after July 1, 2026. Residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial ratepayers are expressly excluded, as are entities that build generation for behind-the-meter projects.
- “Electric supplier” covers all entities providing electric service in Oklahoma, including investor-owned utilities, electric cooperatives, municipal utilities, and public power utilities.
Key Provisions
- Ratepayer Protection Mandate. Applicable governing bodies must ensure that existing residential, commercial, and industrial customers are protected from paying unjust rates resulting directly from electric service to large load customers. All rates must be fair, just, and reasonable, and costs and revenues must be assigned and allocated among customers in accordance with cost causation principles.
- Separate Tariffs and Terms of Service. Every electric supplier must establish and maintain separate terms, conditions, and tariffs for large load customers. These must include credit requirements and other measures to ensure that large load customers reimburse the utility for all costs fairly allocated to them—including costs that may remain unrecovered if the customer departs the system or materially reduces load.
- Minimum 10-Year Service Commitment. The term of service for a large load customer must be at least ten (10) years. An exception exists for public power utilities using tax-exempt municipal financing, where the term is the lesser of ten years or the applicable IRS guideline.
- Universal Applicability. The Act applies to all retail electric suppliers serving load in Oklahoma, including those regulated by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC), electric cooperatives, municipal utilities, and public power utilities.
- OCC Rulemaking and Enforcement. The OCC is authorized to promulgate rules to effectuate the Act and has exclusive jurisdiction to enforce its provisions for electric suppliers under its rate jurisdiction. Compliance with the Act is a condition of providing service to large load customers.
Effective Date
The bill provides for an effective date of July 1, 2026. However, the current version of the bill also contains an emergency clause, declaring that the Act takes effect immediately upon passage by the House of Representatives and Senate and approval by the Governor, given the necessity for preservation of public peace, health, or safety.
Implications for Energy Sector Stakeholders
- Data Center and AI Facility Developers. Any new data center, crypto mining, or AI computing facility planning to draw 75 MW or more in Oklahoma should anticipate being subject to a separate, dedicated rate class with potentially significant credit requirements and a mandatory 10-year service commitment. This could affect project financing models and site-selection decisions.
- Electric Utilities. All utilities—investor-owned, cooperative, and municipal—will need to develop and file new tariffs and service terms specifically for large load customers, which will require coordination with the OCC or their respective governing body. Utilities must build in protections against stranded costs in the event a large load customer exits or curtails its load.
- Existing Ratepayers and Industrial Loads. The bill is structured to insulate existing customer classes from rate increases driven by infrastructure buildout for these new, high-demand facilities. However, traditional industrial ratepayers and behind-the-meter generation projects are expressly excluded from the “large load customer” definition and would not be subject to the new requirements.
- Infrastructure and Real Estate. Developers planning large-scale energy-intensive facilities in Oklahoma should factor in the regulatory costs and long-term contractual commitments this legislation would impose when evaluating potential sites. The 10-year minimum service term, in particular, may affect lease structuring and project timelines for facilities intended to serve data center tenants.
As noted above, the bill is still only pending legislation and would not become effective until and unless it is passed by the State Senate and signed by the Governor. The full text of the proposed bill can be found here.
Other Oklahoma Bills Affecting Data Centers Introduced During 2026 Legislative Session
As noted above, during the current Legislative session several other bills which would have affected data centers in Oklahoma were proposed but failed to advance. Most notable among these proposed bills was Senate Bill 1488. Introduced by Senator Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard, proposed SB 1488 would have imposed a complete moratorium on construction of data centers in Oklahoma with a load of 100MW or more until November 1, 2029. In the interim, the bill would have required the OCC to conduct a study of the potential impacts of data centers in Oklahoma. Industry stakeholders will be carefully monitoring the 2027 Legislative session to see if a similar bill is introduced next year, given the potentially drastic effect of such a measure.
Date Centers Also in Focus on Other State Legislatures
A number of other states are currently considering legislation that would affect the data center industry. Click here for our recent blog post discussing potential 2027 Texas legislation.
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