Why developers come here
Oklahoma sells three things at once: some of the cheapest industrial electricity in the country, large flat parcels near existing transmission, and a Google anchor that has operated at the state-owned MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor since 2011. EIA data put Oklahoma’s average industrial price at 6.44 cents per kWh for the first half of 2026, the lowest of the five states in this group. In August 2025 Google announced a further $9 billion for Pryor and a new campus in Stillwater, with the first Stillwater phase targeted for 2027.
The state sits inside the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), whose wind-heavy generation mix and relatively open transmission have attracted developers priced out of Texas and Northern Virginia. The Frontier counted at least 18 data center projects statewide by December 2025, concentrated in the Tulsa metro, Muskogee, Stillwater, and the northwest (IREN’s Woods County campus near Alva).
Water and land are cheaper than on the coasts, but both have become the main points of friction.
Incentives
- Sales tax exemption for computer services and data processing. Under 68 O.S. 1357 and Oklahoma Administrative Code 710:65-13-54, machinery and equipment (servers, drives, software, telecom gear) bought by an establishment primarily engaged in computer services or data processing is exempt from state sales and use tax. The catch is a revenue test: the business must earn at least 50 percent (80 percent for pure data processing under the older SIC 7374 classification) of gross revenue from out-of-state buyers, and it must recertify with the Oklahoma Tax Commission every year. There is no minimum investment or job count and no statutory sunset. Supplies and construction materials are not covered.
- Five-year ad valorem (property tax) exemption. 68 O.S. 2902 gives qualifying computer services and data processing facilities a five-year exemption from local property tax, with the state reimbursing school districts and counties. Senate Bill 577 (2025) added job and payroll reporting for recipients. A 2026 bill (HB 4424) to cut off eligibility for facilities not operating by January 1, 2027 died without a floor vote.
- 21st Century Quality Jobs. Cash rebates of up to 10 percent of new payroll for up to 10 years for knowledge-based employers creating at least 10 high-wage jobs, per the Department of Commerce.
- 2026 laws. The Data Center Customer Ratepayer Protection Act (HB 2992, effective July 1, 2026) says large-load customers “shall be allocated their equitable share” of electric service costs, and requires developers to notify adjoining landowners, county commissioners, and the Corporation Commission within 60 days of acquiring land for a qualifying project. The Groundwater Modernization Act (SB 259, effective November 1, 2026) bars data centers from using groundwater in evaporative cooling and requires annual water-use reports to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. Senate Bill 998 (2025) lets utilities recover construction costs during construction rather than after completion.
Power
Oklahoma is in SPP. Investor-owned OG&E serves Oklahoma City and much of the center and west; PSO (an AEP company) serves Tulsa and the east; the state-owned Grand River Dam Authority serves Pryor’s MidAmerica Industrial Park and several municipal systems. Large loads interconnect through the utility, with SPP transmission studies for anything that affects the bulk grid.
Both investor-owned utilities forecast shortfalls: PSO projected a 3,124 MW deficit by 2031 and OG&E a 3,459 MW gap by 2035, according to filings reported by The Frontier. PSO reported 11 large-load prospects totaling about 779 MW plus one customer needing more than 1,000 MW.
The Corporation Commission ordered OG&E to file a large-load tariff by July 2026. OG&E’s June 2026 proposal applies to new loads of 75 MW or more, runs 15 years with a ramp of up to five years, requires collateral, imposes early termination and capacity-reduction fees, and has the customer pay 100 percent of connection costs upfront. OG&E says charges on these customers would reduce residential bills by $25 million to $30 million a year. PSO’s tariff was pending in its rate case as of July 2026. Both utilities signed the White House-backed Ratepayer Protection Pledge.
Water is a live issue. Google’s Pryor site used about 1.1 billion gallons in the year to June 2025 from the Neosho River; Stillwater’s six planned buildings are estimated at 3 billion gallons a year from Kaw Lake; Tulsa-area Project Clydesdale is permitted for up to 2.2 billion gallons a year.
Where the projects are
Northeast Oklahoma is the core: Pryor (Mayes County), Tulsa County (Project Anthem in east Tulsa; Beale Infrastructure’s Project Clydesdale near Owasso, with Google confirmed as end user), Sand Springs (Google’s Project Spring, 827 acres in Osage County), Coweta, and Muskogee County. Stillwater (Payne County) hosts Google’s second campus. In the northwest, IREN’s Woods County campus near Alva claims a 1.6 GW OG&E allocation on about 2,000 acres.
Local politics
Resistance has centered on water, secrecy, and farmland. Tulsa County commissioners approved Project Clydesdale’s agricultural-to-industrial rezoning 3-0 in July 2025 over loud opposition about evaporative cooling, wildlife, and how many permanent jobs would materialize. In March 2026 the Tulsa City Council unanimously passed a nine-month moratorium on new data center approvals (exempting Anthem and Clydesdale) while the planning office rewrites zoning standards; one councilor objected that projects were landing in underserved neighborhoods. In Sand Springs, the rezoning of ranch land for Google’s Project Spring triggered a campaign to recall the mayor and entire city council, driven by nondisclosure agreements and county residents who could not vote on a city decision.
Support comes from the state government and economic developers, who point to Google’s payroll, the utility argument that large loads spread fixed costs, and revenue for rural school districts. Stillwater and Pryor officials say water supplies are adequate.
What a landowner should know
Developers here typically assemble 500 to 2,000 acres near a 138 kV or 345 kV line or an existing substation, often under option agreements that pay a modest annual fee for the right to buy later. Because HB 2992 now requires notice to adjoining landowners within 60 days of a land acquisition, neighbors will hear about projects earlier than they did in 2024 and 2025.
Ask who the utility is (OG&E, PSO, GRDA, or a cooperative) before valuing a parcel, and ask whether the project plans evaporative cooling; after November 2026 a groundwater permit will require closed-loop or similar low-consumption cooling. Counties control zoning outside city limits, and several Tulsa-area approvals have turned on agricultural-to-industrial rezonings.
The state contact is the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, which publishes a data center incentive summary and a site selection guide. Rate and tariff dockets are at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.