May 16, 2026 | Posted by Abdul-Rahman Oladimeji
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has signed a bill to protect ratepayers from rising utility and infrastructure costs linked to data centers. Proposed by Rep. Brad Boles on January 3, 2026, it is expected to take effect in July. The law requires large-load customers—including data centers, crypto mining operations, and AI facilities using 75MW or more—to cover their own infrastructure costs instead of shifting them to residential and small-business customers.
The bill passed unanimously through House committees before reaching the Senate, where it was amended to include 60-day advance notice requirements and public meetings prior to land purchases for large projects. The Senate approved the final version 46–0. Rep. Brad Boles noted the rare unanimous support in both chambers, attributing it to constituent input, and said lawmakers are likely just beginning broader discussions on data center regulation.
“Three years ago, we weren’t talking about data centers at all,” Boles said. “So I could see each year the legislature coming in and maybe there’s issues we weren’t aware of this year or we continue to build off what we did this year.”
Additional bills are also moving through Oklahoma’s legislature targeting water use, including proposals that would require data centers using groundwater cooling to adopt closed-loop systems to reduce local water impacts.Oklahoma is the latest U.S. state to pass a ratepayer protection law. Last week, Florida also enacted similar legislation preventing utilities from shifting data center infrastructure costs to residential and small-business customers, instead requiring large users to pay the full cost of service.
