Friday, August 7, 2026 • Morning rain chances. Highs between 98-101. ⛈️

We received 217 votes on the Thursday poll, “How often do you watch a local TV newscast?”

• 57 said, “Once per day, most days”
• 51 said, “More than once per day, most days”
• 28 said, “A handful of times each week”
• 48 said, “Rarely. Only if there is big breaking news or weather.”
• 33 said, “I get all my news on digital and social.”

New poll question at the bottom of today’s newsletter. (You can also suggest a poll question by emailing me at [email protected].)

By Chloe Bennett-Steele, StateImpact Oklahoma
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Oklahoma passed a law last year allowing energy-hungry facilities to build their own power. But as data center announcements sprout up across Oklahoma, most include plans to work with local utilities.

Last month, Gov. Kevin Stitt and some Oklahoma electric utilities signed a federal pledge to protect household ratepayers. The Ratepayer Protection Pledge directs data center developers to pay their own way and invest in surrounding communities.

Part of the document states companies must buy the massive amount of electricity they require, add more power to the grid or supply it on-site.

“You're going to be building your own data centers, and you're going to be building your own electric plants,” said President Donald Trump. “You're essentially becoming a utility.”

The pledge is one of many ways officials are responding to public pushback against hyperscale data centers.

Oklahoma has its own version of a ratepayer protection pledge, a law requiring electricity suppliers to create separate terms and conditions for large-scale energy consumers like data centers and increase transparency. State regulators are currently reviewing large-load tariffs from utilities intended to prevent households from shouldering grid connection costs for companies like Google and Meta.

The legislature also passed Senate Bill 480 last year, allowing data centers to build power plants behind the meter, bypassing utilities. Rep. Brad Boles, R-Marlow, co-authored the legislation.

“What we realized is in Oklahoma, our state law is kind of vague; it doesn't really say that companies can provide their own power generation,” Boles, who is running for a seat on the Corporation Commission, said. “It doesn't say they can't either, but it doesn't say that they can.”

“ So we wanted to provide clarity that if a large load comes to Oklahoma and they want to provide their own power generation, that they would have the ability to do that,” he said.

The bill was expected to generate billions of dollars in private investment and alleviate pressure from the electric grid. Growing demand, supercharged by large-load consumers like data centers, is expected to outpace supply within the Southwest Power Pool’s territory. The organization operates the electric grid in Oklahoma and 16 other states.

But so far, most data centers with plans in Oklahoma are opting to plug into the grid. Experts say the state’s grid system is likely more reliable than depending on behind-the-meter generation. Building a power plant is costly and can take years to complete.

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