A Republican state senator in Oklahoma introduced legislation last Thursday that would establish a three-year moratorium on the construction of new data centers in the state.

The bill, called SB 1488, is intended to give the state time to conduct a “comprehensive review” of concerns related to data centers, including the impact on water supply, utility rates, property values, and optimal siting practices. If passed, the moratorium would last until November 1, 2029.

The legislation was proposed by Republican State Senator Kendal Sacchieri, who joins the likes of environmental groups and political figures including Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders in calling for a halt – temporary or permanent – to the data center construction boom.

“As data centers continue to grow rapidly across Oklahoma, we are confronting serious unknowns about how these large facilities affect our communities, our utilities, and our natural resources,” said Senator Sacchieri.

“We must be sincere in addressing these unknowns and finding the best solutions for the erection of these very large facilities. There may be better solutions out there than what we are currently doing — which is allowing data centers to be sited anywhere and everywhere without thinking through the long-term effects and repercussions.”

Data center regulation has become a popular issue in local, state, and federal politics, drawing support from public figures across party lines.

This is because opposition to data centers has become as widespread as it is fierce. The energy and land requirements of data centers built specifically to train and use AI are much higher than those of other data centers, and these requirements have forced developers and hyperscalers to look for land in places – like Oklahoma – that have not traditionally been data center hubs.

While there have been some high-profile data center proposals in the state as of late – including the Beale Infrastructure-backed Project Atlas outside of Tulsa, which could span 270 acres – local authorities across the US have been enacting data center moratoriums in preparation, rather than in response to, an influx of data center projects.

Multiple councils across Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Kansas, Ohio, Tennessee, Missouri, Idaho, and Pennsylvania have introduced some form of data center moratoria, for example.

At the time of writing, no state in the US currently has a state-wide data center moratorium. Oklahoma is not the only state considering a state-wide moratorium – the state legislatures of Georgia and Maryland are also considering similar moves.