Google Will Delay Oklahoma Data Center

Google will delay construction of its data center in Pryor, Oklahoma, the company confirmed today. The $600 million facility was scheduled to be completed in early 2009, but instead will go online sometime in 2010.

The administrator of the Mid-American Industrial Park in Pryor, where Google has purchased 800 acres of land, told the Tulsa World the slowing economy was a factor in Google’s decision to push back its construction timetable. But the company said it was staggering the deployment of new data center space after bringing several projects online in recent months.

“Google’s data centers are crucial to providing fast, reliable services for our users and we’ve invested heavily in capacity to ensure we can meet existing as well as future demand,” a Google spokesperson said. “This means there is no need to make all our data centers operational from day one. We anticipate that the Pryor Creek facility will come into use within the next 12 to 18 months. Google remains committed to and excited about operating this facility in Mayes County.”

Google announced the Oklahoma data center project in May, 2007, when it purchased 800 acres of land in Pryor for a massive facility that would employ 100 workers with an average salary of $48,000. The Pryor project was the third of four data center construction projects Google announced in the first half of 2007. The search company has completed the first data center in its project in Lenoir, North Carolina and is preparing to begin production in its facility in Goose Creek, South Carolina.