Tulsa County Board of commissioners vote to approve Project Clydesdale

After months of public debate, the Tulsa County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted on Monday to approve Project Clydesdale, a new data center set to be built on county land just outside of Owasso.

Hearings for Project Clydesdale were first held in July. Since then, the project has sparked both support and concern from community members across Tulsa County.

At Monday’s meeting, commissioners approved the project’s developmental plan, including the creation of four tax incentive districts. Each district must meet specific deadlines in order to receive the full tax benefits.

County leaders said the project will benefit the entire region by boosting economic growth, despite concerns raised by residents about energy usage, water supply, and hiring practices.

Before the final vote, several community members took the opportunity to speak. Justin McLaughlin with the Tulsa Regional Chamber shared his support for the project.

“We believe that this represents a major opportunity to attract investment, create quality jobs, and strengthen the economic foundation of our entire county,” McLaughlin said. “This project is designed not only to stimulate growth, but also to position our region as a competitive hub for advanced technology innovation.”

Not everyone was in favor, however. Joe Hart, a local resident, voiced his concerns about the project’s long-term impact on taxpayers and infrastructure.

“PSO just Friday announced that they would like to get a rate increase because they don’t have capacity to provide power,” Hart said. “Yet when they came to talk about this project, they told us they had plenty. So, we’ve got a lot of questions here — how much is this really going to cost Tulsa County taxpayers?”

Other residents raised concerns about water usage, potential environmental impacts, and whether the developer would prioritize hiring local workers over bringing in labor from out of state.

Jeremy Griffin, a Tulsa resident who supports the project, said the focus should be on ensuring job opportunities benefit the local workforce.

“These are permanent jobs for people because we are moving from one thing to the next here locally, and that’s one of the concerns that we have is making sure that they hire locally,” Griffin said. “We weren’t asking them to commit to 100% because of course, there is a big labor pool and there is a shortage of workers out there, but we can recruit people here.”

City leaders from both Tulsa and Owasso attended the meeting to show their support. The data center will be on county land between the two cities.

As part of the approval, commissioners granted a 100% property tax exemption for the project over the next 25 years. However, County Commissioner Stan Salee clarified that the developer will still pay $1.5 million per year, calling it “more like a 50% tax break.:

The discussion around data centers isn’t over. Just last week, State Representative Amanda Clinton announced plans to hold interim studies in October focused on the growth of data centers across Oklahoma.

She said she supports innovation but wants more transparency on their water and power usage, as well as potential environmental impacts.