USA Rare Earth’s President Barbara Humpton says her firm’s recent $2.8 billion acquisition of a mining operation in Brazil will eventually make the company and its magnet producing operation in Stillwater a leader in the rare earth industry worldwide and reduce dependency on China. Interviewed Thursday on the Fox program, Mornings with Maria, she …
April 30, 2026 archive
OGE wins Google contracts
OG&E, the operating subsidiary of locally-headquartered OGE Energy Corp., announced that it will power three new data centers that Google announced in Muskogee and Stillwater last year. Google promised to pay its share of the power generation. The data centers and associated Electric Service Agreements will provide economic growth for local communities and the …
Energy briefs–oil prices soar again
Oil prices hit $125 early Thursday US talks Strait of Hormuz ** The US is pushing for other countries to form an international coalition to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a State Department cable seen by Reuters. ** At least six ships – a fraction of the usual traffic …
Power talks underway
Even as Public Service Company officials defended their $1.2 billion plan for expanded electric power production in the state before state regulators this week, they faced pressure to supply power to the controversial $4 billion aluminum smelter proposed in Inola. Oklahoma manufacturing executive Ryan Plotkin, who helped in last year’s announcement of state incentives to …
Lankford defends tax cut
Oklahoma U.S. Sen. James Lankford defends a bill he is co-sponsoring to cut taxes on gasoline costs, even though the measure would also eliminate a tax that helps finance cleanup of Superfund sites in Oklahoma and other states. “If this bill passed, it would help bring gas prices lower without compromising health or safety,” he …
Where are the EV jobs?
Reports suggest the $4 billion Panasonic EV battery plant won by Kansas four years ago in competition with the state of Oklahoma isn’t living up to its promises of creating 8,000 jobs. A report by the Kansas Informer indicated that so far, only about 1,400 employees are working at the plant near Kansas City. …
Developer bars media
Groups are complaining how they were kept out of a Yukon data center meeting this week. What was described as a community Q&A meeting hosted by data center developer Beltline Holdings turned into a private event, according to News 4 TV and a social media posting by Oklahoma Source. The TV news crew was …
Oilfield thieves hit Oklahoma
Oil field thefts are being reported in northeast Oklahoma’s Osage County and the sheriff’s office wants some public help in finding the culprits. The thefts don’t involve oil but rather oilfield equipment, as the Osage County Sheriff showed this week in a Facebook posting. The social-media posting indicated the thefts happened at oilfield locations in …