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Wednesday, September 30, 2026 • Rainy day. 81-84. ☔
Poll results:
We received 265 votes on the Tuesday poll, “What do you think is the main reason Trump is holding a midterm rally in Oklahoma?”
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Boost Republican turnout (151)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Help Oklahoma candidates (41)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Reach voters in nearby Texas (18)
🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Something else (55)
New poll question at the bottom of today’s newsletter. (You can also suggest a poll question by emailing me at [email protected].)
‘Not enough data or expertise’: Oklahoma lawmakers consider future of data centers
House lawmakers on Sept. 29, 2026 listened to presentations at the state Capitol on the impacts data centers have on Oklahoma. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
By Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice
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Nearly a dozen state lawmakers heard from operators, developers, environmental agencies, local elected officials and concerned Oklahomans Tuesday as they weigh the best way to regulate the rapidly changing data center industry.
Oklahoma lawmakers held the study in hopes of finding a legislative solution that balances the needs of data centers operators with the growing concerns of residents. Residents in Oklahoma and across the country are concerned about the impact the massive facilities, which house and maintain the physical equipment needed to process digital information, will have on their utility bills and how much water they consume.
Some Oklahoma governments, like in Oklahoma City and the Seminole Nation, have enacted moratoriums on new construction as the demand for data centers increases with growing use of artificial intelligence.
Rep. Mark Chapman, R-Broken Arrow, who hosted the study, said state lawmakers need to look at the issue from multiple perspectives and figure out how to be as fair as possible to both data centers and Oklahomans when regulating the industry.
“Some people may be completely on one side or the other of this issue,” he said. “But I would like to think that, as with most things, the truth may fall somewhere in the middle.”
Chapman said data centers are coming to Oklahoma either way and the state needs to decide how it wants to participate.
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The Oklahoma Rundown 📰
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Here’s what’s happening in Oklahoma today:
City of Durant prepares for President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit (KXII)
‘Recover every dollar possible’: NextEra Energy found liable for Winter Storm Uri price gouging (NonDoc)
TPS families confront district leaders: ‘What can we do’ to save schools? (Tulsa Flyer)
New infrastructure approved on I-40 for potential Buc-ee’s site in Oklahoma City (KFOR)
Realtors, developers and lawmakers say land banks are a start toward housing fix (Oklahoma Watch)
Judge publicly reprimanded by Oklahoma Supreme Court for ‘indefensible’ conduct (Oklahoma Voice)
Search for Tulsa Race Massacre victims expands at Oaklawn Cemetery (The Oklahoma Eagle)
Former East Central football player sues Tulsa Public Schools, coaches over 2024 heat stroke (News On 6)
Despite Jewish charter school win, Oklahoma archdiocese says it has ‘no plan’ to advance St. Isidore (StateImpact Oklahoma)
New immigration processing center opens in Edmond; DHS Sec. Mullin calls immigrants 'customers' (KOSU)
Couple’s autopsies released in Will Rogers Turnpike police shootout (KSN 16)
Kickapoo chairman, tribal leaders under criminal investigation (KOSU)
Outgoing Eastern Shawnee Chief redefined leadership in her 20 years at helm of tribe in Oklahoma (KOSU)
Tuttle native, Paycom owner Chad Richison named to Forbes 250 list (Central Oklahoma Weeklies)
Wednesday Poll
If Oklahoma recovers money from the Winter Storm Uri case, how should customers get it back?
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