The Tulsa area already has one data center in the works, and after Wednesday, it’s a step closer to having two.
Project Clydesdale
The city’s planning commission on Wednesday unanimously approved the land use for Project Clydesdale, which would put a data center near East 76th Street North and North Sheridan Road.
Data centers are known to use significant amounts of water and electricity. But Project Clydesdale applicant Lou Reynolds told the planning commission the center would not negatively impact the area’s water or electricity.
“(The area is) served by a rural water district, but this project — we will purchase our water from the rural water district, but we’ll be directly tapped into the city of Tulsa’s water lines,” said Reynolds. “We’re not going to affect anyone’s water pressure.”
“To the extent that you’ve got any comments in respect to electrical service, they’re only going to improve as we’re going to bring our substation here,” he continued.
Project Clydesdale’s public relations representative Barrett Waller said “the project worked diligently with our utility partners to mitigate any potential impacts.”
Reynolds also showed the commission letters from the city of Owasso, Owasso Public Schools and Tulsa Tech in support of the data center. He specifically said the school district is looking to expand its STEM opportunities, and that the center will help this objective.
“We’ve talked to [just] about everybody we can talk to in all of this, and we have been very warmly received,” Reynolds said.
It’s not clear what company will run the data center. Waller did not respond to that question from KWGS. Project Clydesdale also has not disclosed economic impacts.
Project Anthem
The other data center is Project Anthem. It is planned for the intersection of East 11th Street and the Creek Turnpike, according to city records.
The data center is expected to bring in 800 million dollars of private investment and have a “modest” economic impact on the city, according to records.
It has also not been officially announced who will run this data center.
