A U.S. House committee plans to take a look into data centers, the very subject that is the target of several bills before the Oklahoma legislature.
House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Brian Babin announced a hearing to examine the structure and oversight of federal permitting regimes governing the energy and data center infrastructure critical to artificial intelligence development.
He said the hearing will assess how lengthy timelines, expanding compliance requirements, and approval uncertainty constrain the energy production and grid expansion needed to power AI, and will evaluate the implications of these barriers for U.S. competitiveness as China rapidly expands power generation and data center capacity through more centralized and streamlined approval processes.
“Artificial intelligence will define the next era of economic and national security leadership, but it cannot advance without reliable, abundant energy,” said Chairman Babin. “I look forward to this hearing and to assessing whether our permitting system is enabling or impeding the infrastructure needed to power America’s AI future.”
SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING: Powering America’s AI Future: Assessing Policy Options to Increase Data Center Infrastructure
DATE: Tuesday, February 24, 2026
TIME: 10:00 a.m.
PLACE: 2318 Rayburn House Office Building
WITNESSES:
- Ms. Paige Lambermont, Research Fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute
- Mr. Marsden Hanna, Head of Energy and Sustainability Policy, Global Affairs Team, Google, LLC
- Dr. Eric Masanet, Professor and Mellichamp Chair in Sustainability Science for Emerging Technologies, Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UC Santa Barbara
This notice is at the direction of the Chair. The hearing will be open to the public and press and livestreamed online at https://science.house.gov/.