Oklahoma opponents of data centers will want to know they have support from two unlikely sources—Democrats Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Sen. Sanders, Vermont and Rep. Ocasio-Cortz, New York, planned to introduce legislation this week to block the construction of any more new data centers across the nation until lawmakers enact regulations on AI. It’s a sign that Washington is now being confronted with growing public skepticism from the threats of technology, and not just from Oklahomans questioning data centers in Claremore, Coweta, Yukon and other cities in the state.
Sanders and AOC are two of the most prominent figures on the political left and their bill would create a moratorium on AI data centers, very similar to efforts made earlier this year in the Oklahoma legislature. The moratorium bill, by Sen. Kendal Sacchieri (R-Blanchard) never made it out of committee, and as OK Energy Today reported earlier this week, is apparently dead for this legislative session.
A moratorium on a national level, as proposed by Sanders and AOC is considered to be the first of its kind. Sanders’ office said the intent of the bill is to pause construction of data centers “until strong national safeguards are in place to protect workers, consumers and communities, defend privacy and civil rights and ensure these technologies do not harm our environment,” reported Bloomberg News.
While it was not a moratorium bill as proposed by state Sen. Sacchieri, another measure by Rep. Brad Boles, R-Marlow, was approved by the state House this week with nearly unanimous support. The vote was 92-2 in support of HB2992, a bill to require large load data centers to pay their portion of infrastructure costs and to prevent the costs from being passed on to other ratepayers. Its formal title is the Data Center Customer Ratepayer Protection Act.
“—what this is going to do is basically make sure that the data centers pay for their portion of infrastructure costs. So for instance, if there’s a new power facility going in, and let’s say 80% of that facility is dedicated to a data center, 20% is dedicated to residential, industrial, the data center will pay for 80% of their infrastructure costs, which would be all 100% of their costs that they brought to the grid,” said Rep. Boles in explaining his bill to House members.
Similar concerns last year led to the legislature’s approval and the governor’s signature of a Behind the Meter law, a measure that urged data center owners to develop their own power sources.
Oklahoma legislators and consumers aren’t alone in concerns about the impact of data centers. The same worries have been expressed by communities in nearly every state. Many have voiced fears of increased electrical rates because of the huge amount of power needed by the data centers. Others are also concerned about the impact on water supplies.