Facing the data center question head-on

Everywhere you turn lately, people are talking about data centers. Sometimes I’m hearing excitement, other times there is real concern. As Oklahoma’s electric cooperatives, we want to meet that conversation head-on.

First, big loads aren’t new to us. For decades, cooperatives have served oil and gas operations, large manufacturers, agricultural processing facilities and more. Responding to significant electricity needs is part of what we do. Like then, our guiding principle remains the same: your local co-op will not shift the costs of serving a large power user onto residential and small business members. If a data center connects to your system, it will pay its own way.

When a data center expresses interest in locating in a cooperative’s service territory, there is nothing “casual” about the response. It takes careful coordination among local distribution cooperatives, power suppliers and transmission partners. Together, we plan for infrastructure, forecast demand and work through engineering and construction timelines.

Just as importantly, we put safeguards in place. That may include requiring upfront payments for studies and system upgrades, evaluating a company’s financial strength, setting appropriate deposits and designing rates that recover the full cost of service. These protections exist for one reason: to ensure members are insulated from financial risk if a project changes or does not materialize.

You may be asking, “Why are data centers showing up on the co-op radar in the first place?” Historically, these facilities clustered around big cities because that’s where existing transmission and workforce were concentrated. As growth accelerated, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence, companies began looking for locations with more land with room to expand and strong electric reliability. That naturally led them to look toward rural America and cooperative-served areas.

On the benefit side, data centers bring large, steady electric loads with high load factors, meaning they use power consistently. That can strengthen a cooperative’s revenue base. These facilities often pay for substantial system upgrades that also improve reliability for surrounding homes and businesses. They contribute property and business taxes that support schools, roads and local services and they can create new jobs directly and indirectly in the community.

On the challenge side, serving a large, single customer requires significant planning, capital investment and long-term risk management. Community questions about land use, growth, and water or energy demand are real and deserve honest answers. Our responsibility is to make sure projects do not jeopardize reliability, do not burden existing members with new costs and do not outpace the ability of our system or community to support them.

That’s why we move deliberately, not reactively.

At the end of the day, our position is simple: cooperatives exist to serve the people who own them — you. If a data center or any other large power user wants to locate in your co-op’s service territory, your co-op will evaluate it carefully, require it to pay the costs it creates and protect the cooperative from unnecessary risk. We will continue doing what we have always done: plan thoughtfully, tell you the truth and keep affordability and reliability at the center of every decision.

If you have questions about this topic, please ask. The conversation about data centers is not something happening “out there.” It’s happening here at home, and your cooperative will keep you informed every step of the way.

By Nicki Fuller

General Manager | Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives