'Not listening to the people'| Anger ahead of Sand Springs data center vote
Jan 20, 2026
City of Sand Springs held its final public info meeting Jan. 20 with developers behind the polarizing Project Spring, AKA a hyperscale data center for Google - to not much positive reception."Oh my, skeptical is the wrong word.
I am so against it," Sue Denton said before the meeting at Charles Page High School. "It's such a mammoth thing," her husband, Bill Denton said. "It puts a strain on everything: utilities, water department, sewer department, everything."WATCH: 'Not listening to the people'| Anger ahead of Sand Springs data center vote 'Not listening to the people'| Anger ahead of Sand Springs data center voteTo say the atmosphere was tense coming into the last non-voting meeting before Jan. 27 would be an understatement. The vast majority of voices heard on and off microphones were extremely critical of assurances made by representatives of Google, Public Service Oklahoma, and city officials.Protect Sand Springs Alliance has also already filed a lawsuit against the city in Osage County district court over the data center plans, alleging its 827 acres were illegally annexed. Related>>> Lawsuit filed against the City of Sand Springs in response to data center planning and development"Some data centers do use a lot of water. But jumping straight to the end here: the plan we have for this site is to not use water for cooling," Kate Franko of Google Data Center Public Affairs told the crowd of more than 250 people."We're ensuring that they pay their full share of connecting to and using the electric grid," PSO spokesman Rodrigo Rojas said. "These provisions include minimum bill requirements, they include up-front collateral, and they include early exit fees to ensure that revenue stability for our system." Previous coverage>>> What utility companies are saying about Green Country data center plans"Bringing Google here will glean at least $1.1 million in our building fund every single year, which helps us do all those things that we need for our kids," Sand Springs Public Schools superintendent Sherry Durkee said during her pitch to the audience.However, Rock Volunteer Fire Department chief Charley Pearson accused the city council of not listening to the people during public comments and questions to city officials."Would you rather eat or would you rather have a data center? Hands down the people are going to say, 'I want to eat.' So you're wanting to take this ag land and take it out of production and put a data center on it? It's not right, guys," Pearson said.The city will hold two special meetings Jan. 27 and on Feb. 3, both hosted at the high school.Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere -- 2 News Oklahoma on your schedule | Download on your TV, watch for free. How to watch on your streaming device Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram Watch LIVE 24/7 on YouTube
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