Aligned Data Centers Grady County Water Request Rejected

Grady County Water District Rejects Aligned Data Centers Utility Request Near Amber

A proposed Aligned Data Centers project in Grady County has hit an early infrastructure hurdle after Grady County Rural Water District 2 rejected a request to provide water and wastewater service to property just outside Amber.

Aligned Data Centers recently purchased the property and asked the rural water district for approximately 80,000 gallons of water and 22,000 gallons of wastewater capacity. District officials say the request creates both service-boundary and capacity problems that prevent RWD2 from moving forward.

The decision does not necessarily end the proposed project, but it leaves unanswered how the site would obtain the water and wastewater infrastructure it needs.

Aligned Data Centers Request Exceeds Grady County RWD2 Capacity

According to Grady County Rural Water District 2 Superintendent Greg Moser, the proposed Aligned Data Centers site near Amber is actually located inside the territory of Grady County Rural Water District 6.

Moser said he consulted with the Oklahoma Rural Water Association and was advised that district boundaries would have to be addressed before RWD2 could provide service without potentially encroaching on RWD6 territory.

The Oklahoma Water Resources Board recognizes both Grady County RWD2 and Grady County RWD6 as separate rural water systems serving the county.

The larger problem, however, is capacity.

RWD2 currently handles approximately 17,000 to 18,000 gallons of wastewater per day. Aligned requested capacity for another 22,000 gallons per day.

That means the proposed data center alone would require wastewater capacity greater than the district’s current daily wastewater volume.

Matthew Jones, co-chairman of the RWD2 board, said the district’s existing lagoon system simply cannot accommodate that additional demand.

He also said the district does not currently have enough available water to supply the requested 80,000 gallons.

Grady County Data Center Raises Rural Infrastructure Questions

The rejection highlights a larger question surrounding development of data centers in rural Oklahoma: whether existing utility infrastructure can support projects with significantly different demands than the customers those systems were originally built to serve.

The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality says rural data centers without established public utility connections can face additional water, wastewater and environmental permitting requirements. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board regulates water rights and water use, while DEQ oversees areas including wastewater discharges and water-quality requirements.

RWD2 itself is already pursuing water-system improvements. Oklahoma Water Resources Board records list approximately $980,000 in various water-system improvement projects associated with Grady County RWS & SWMD #2.

Aligned says its newer facilities use closed-loop cooling systems designed to substantially reduce water consumption compared with older evaporative-cooled data centers. The company says water in those systems is repeatedly reused and that ongoing water demand is primarily associated with normal building operations and employees.

The specific 80,000-gallon request in Grady County, however, remains the amount presented to RWD2.

What Happens Next With the Aligned Data Centers Project

Attention now turns to Grady County Rural Water District 6, whose territory includes the property.

It was not immediately clear whether Aligned Data Centers has submitted the same water and wastewater request to RWD6. The district is expected to meet next week, although an agenda had not been posted when the initial report was published.

If RWD6 cannot provide the necessary capacity, Aligned could face additional decisions involving infrastructure improvements, alternative water sources or wastewater solutions before the proposed development can move forward.

Oklahoma regulators note that data centers may obtain water by contracting with a local utility that has sufficient permitted water rights, while projects without adequate public utility access may require additional state permitting.

For residents near Amber and throughout Grady County, the next step will be whether RWD6 is asked to provide service — and whether its existing infrastructure can accommodate the project.

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