Wagoner County Commissioners vote 2:1 to deny proposed solar farm to NextEra

WAGONER COUNTY, Okla. — The Wagoner County Board of Commissioners voted to deny a solar project that would have taken up hundreds of acres for solar panels between Porter and the Arkansas River.

FOX23 has brought you coverage over the last few months on the Perisca Solar project, brought from the company NextEra.

FOX23 told you last week when dozens of people filled the Wagoner County Commissioners chambers to speak out against the Persica Solar Farm project, set to be built on land between Porter and the Arkansas River.

We’ve also reported on Wagoner County neighbors’ concerns about the solar company NextEra’s proposal for the Persica Solar Farm.

Multiple representatives from NextEra did attended Monday’s meeting, speaking to county residents and commissioners on questions and concerns that were brought up.

All state lawmakers that represent parts of Wagoner County also attended the board meeting. They were also split.

State Rep. Gabe Woolley spoke about the need for a study at the State Capitol to be done, using this project, in order to help its outcome for the community.

Sen. Julia McIntosh gave commissioners the feedback she had received from her constituents on why they were concerned about the project.

State Rep. Mark Chapman believed the project would only benefit the county.

All three agreed this decision is not a state decision, but a local county decision. They each felt compelled to be at meetings that impacted their districts. 

After more than three hours of open community discussion and debate, commissioners voted to deny the project in a 2:1 vote.

Tim Kelley was the only commissioner to vote for the project, citing land owners should get to decide what they do with their own land. James Hanning and Randy Stamps voted to deny the project. 

Hanning was the only commissioner to speak with FOX23 after the meeting.

“It was just a gut wrenching consideration and I feel for both sides,” Hanning said. “There was a lot of emotion and a lot of passion and good points on  both sides and it was our job and our duty to listen to all sides and I think that’s what we did, I think it went very fair.”

There were multiple attempts to make a vote at the meeting, the first three failed.

The first two motions to deny or accept the solar project didn’t receive a second to go forward with a vote from Commissioner Randy Stamps. Stamps did second a third motion to deny the project, and then he abstained. It was the fourth vote in which he voted to deny the project. 

Hanning says there will be a need for further energy deals with the amount of industry coming to the county.

“I think solar is an intricate part of the technology that’s come to this county,” Hanning said. “There’s gonna be an even higher demand with some of the industry that’s wanting to move to Wagoner. We got a lot of big projects coming to Wagoner and we gotta figure out how to power it.”

Hanning told FOX23 there could be plans for solar in the future for the county, but it would need to be zoned accordingly.

“There probably is a path to consider this technology, its just gonna take a lot of work in the county-side,” Hanning said. “Maybe look at counties who’ve done this before so we don’t gotta reinvent the wheel.”

Sara Cassidy, Director of Development Communications at NextEra, provided the following statement on behalf of NextEra Energy Resources:

“While NextEra Energy Resources is disappointed with the decision by the Board of County Commissioners, we remain deeply committed to working with local leaders to develop the Persica Solar project in Wagoner County and bring the benefits of the project to the community, including approximately $31 million dollars in tax payments over the lifetime of the project,” the statement read.