Nearly one year after solar farm developer Persica Solar, LLC filed suit following a vote of Wagoner County Commissioners to deny a conditional use permit to construct a $336 million solar array, the company has filed a trial brief asking the courts to issue the permit.
The county commission voted in June of 2025 against granting the permit to the NextEra Energy subsidiary, Persica Solar filed the trial brief last week in Wagoner County District Court. The 164-page brief included minutes of several county commission meetings where the permit request was delayed four times before a fifth meeting was held at which commissioners voted against it. Persica attorney Jim Roth, a former Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner, asked the court to issue the permit for the operation of the nearly 5,000-acre farm outside the city of Porter, known as the Peach Capital of Oklahoma, If not, he asked the court to order the county commissioners to issue the conditional use permit.
“Persica has unquestionably satisfied the requirements for a conditional use permit to construct a solar energy farm on agricultural property in Wagoner County and the only question before this Court would be “whether the board of adjustment was possessed of discretionary authority to create additional conditions, and if imposed, whether they were reasonable,” argued Roth in the June 16 filing.
The legal saga started in the fall of 2024 when Persica submitted its application to the Wagoner County Metropolitan Area Planning Commission. In January 2025, the county planning and zoning department recommended approval, but the MAPC voted against the approval. The company went to the County Commission and the “request (designated as Resolution 2025-019) was placed on the BOCC’s published Agenda five separate times during each of which it was discussed and public comments were heard, before the BOCC finally voted against approval on June 16, 2025. At no point did the BOCC ever provide any explanation or written findings of fact or law.”
Persica’s attorney also filed copies of minutes of each of the meetings where the delays occurred and the final vote was made. Attorney Roth, in trying to convince the judge in the case to approve the permit, also pointed to support in the community for the project and how it will create economic benefits for the city and the schools. Persica, as the filing explained, obtained voluntary leases from 25-separate real property owners. The company explained that power generated from the solar farm would be injected into the grid at the Public Service Company of Oklahoma and then distributed to the Southwest Power Pool.
Persica contends the project will provide a significant ad valorem tax benefit, pointing out that “Porter struggles to survive as a town.” It also claims the solar farm will benefit Porter Consolidated schools and 28-year Porter school board member Brenda Livesay supports the project. The company contends the project would result in approximately $31 million in Wagoner County ad valorem tax revenue over the 30-year life of the project.
The trial brief quoted Wagoner County Economic Development Director Darla Heller as suggesting the $31 million estimate is “very conservative.” She also said the project “would be transformational for public—for Porter Public Schools.”
Persica explained that at the height of construction, the project would create up to 300 construction jobs for the building of the farm and transmission line. The company used the court filing to show the support it has for the project from area landowners, quoting one farmer who leased land, “This solar lease helps us ensure that we can continue to farm in some manner, even possibly buy more acres.”
Persica also pointed to Livesay Orchards, an employer of 160 people around Porter that the project would be beneficial to the community by allowing the company to continue operations even when the weather negatively affects operations.
Persica also charged the opposition from the Board of County Commissioners is “nothing more than speculation.”
“The community roads will be preserved or improved. Persica informed the BOCC that it anticipates entering into a road maintenance agreement wherein Persica would agree to repair any damage to any roads used to haul equipment and leave those roads “in as good or better a state than they were found in” generally resulting in road improvements. There is no permanent damage to the real property on which the Project would be located. The Project would have a low impact on the land and allows for the land to remain in agricultural use for the foreseeable future by temporarily preserving the land and its potential productivity for
future farming,” stated the company in attempting to convince the judge to grant a permit.
 
Jerry Bohnen is the founder and creator of OK Energy Today, which began in 2012. He is an Edward R. Murrow Investigative award winner and has been recognized by other national, regional and state institutions during his 50 years as a broadcast journalist. Contact Jerry at editor@okenergytoday.com
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