Facebook parent company Meta officially revealed itself Tuesday evening as the developer of Project Anthem, a $1 billion, 340-acre data center in east Tulsa.
The project will bring “100 operational jobs and 1,000 trade jobs during peak construction,” according to Gov. Kevin Stitt.
PartnerTulsa’s project plan estimates the data center will generate $3.3 billion in economic activity from the three-year construction period. That’s based on estimated construction costs of $800 million. Meta will pay for all costs on the project site, including $25 million in public infrastructure.
The closed door event featured several speakers, including Stitt, top city economic development official Erran Persley and Meta vice president of data center development Gary Demasi. Attendees were met by about a dozen protesters, who gathered outside downtown event center The Vista to express concerns about negative environmental impacts and financial burdens the project may put on nearby residents.
“For this project, Meta is paying their own way. They’re covering the full cost of electricity for the water that they’re going to use, and so Oklahoma ratepayers are not footing the bill,” Stitt said, acknowledging the opposition. “I think it’s important for people to understand, I want to make sure that electricity costs stay the most affordable in the country for our citizens.”
Meta has set a goal for net zero water use, which means it plans to return as much water as it consumes. It has also been working with the Public Service Company of Oklahoma to ensure it pays the full costs for energy used so consumers are not impacted.
“We get very detailed about what those improvements look like, and we pay for them 100%,” Demasi told The Eagle. “It’s incredibly important that we know for sure no one else is paying a higher rate because we came to the community.”
Meta plans to partner with Tulsa Tech and Tulsa Community College to create digital infrastructure projects, which Demasi predicts will generate 200 graduates a year. It also plans to give $3 million in grant money to nonprofit Eastside Rise to expand neighborhood enhancement programs across east Tulsa.
The company said it will launch its data center community action grants program in Tulsa, Rogers and Wagner counties in the fall. Funding will go to schools and nonprofits for projects that use technology for community benefit.
Meta will also receive an annual 85% exemption on its property tax bill. The remaining 15% collected is estimated to raise $36 million over the lifespan of a 25-year incentive district.
Project faces scrutiny, criticism from residents
On his way out of the Tuesday meeting, Tulsa City Councilor Christian Bengel, who previously signed a non-disclosure agreement with Meta and represents the area where the data center will be built, was greeted by several protesters who accused him of “selling them out.”
Among them was east Tulsa resident Cheyenna Morgan, who held a sign reading: “Meta profits billions off destruction of our community.” Morgan is with coalition coordinator with Stop Data Colonialism and ran for the city’s District 6 council seat in 2020.
“We have heard recently that (data centers) are going to be net positive on water consumption, which is a narrative that big tech companies have recently come up with to really make it seem like they’re going to be benefiting the community that they occupy. However, that is a lie,” Morgan said.
In Oklahoma, Meta is partnering with Phytech on a water restoration project to provide irrigation technology to local farmers that will help them minimize water withdrawal, save energy and reduce costs.
The decade-long project will use Phytech’s plant-sensor technology across 1,500 acres of commodity crops, including corn, soybeans and winter wheat, to “save over 50 million gallons of water per year.”
Bengel believes he is the scapegoat for an issue that has been public since it was approved.
“You can’t come (to me) and say you didn’t know, because it’s been in every media outlet,” he told The Eagle. “We’ve been talking about this.”
While he’s been a consistent supporter of Project Anthem, Bengel also voted for the nine-month moratorium the city imposed on new data center projects in March.
Project Anthem and Project Clydesdale, which is already being built in north Tulsa, are exempt from the moratorium since they were approved prior to the vote.
“We want to make sure we’re not opening the floodgates, especially if we’re talking about the ecological impacts,” Bengel said.
Construction for Project Anthem is now underway between 11th Street and Creek Turnpike, with a completion date of 2028.
Ismael Lele is a Report for America corps member and writes about business in Tulsa for The Oklahoma Eagle. Your donation to match our Report for America grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting this link.
