Solar development has quickly accelerated in Oklahoma, a state ranked 41st for solar capacity. Lawmakers are considering legislation under an emergency expediency to place restrictions on renewable energy development.
Oklahoma legislators are discussing a bill to require new solar, wind and battery energy storage projects to apply for a permit through the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, a regulatory agency for the state, and notify neighbors before beginning the project’s development process.
“With these new facilities coming to the state, there have been very limited guidelines around wind and zero regarding either solar or battery backup storage systems,” said Rep. Mike Dobrinski (R), who co-authored the bill with Sen. Grant Green (R). “So we have heard from neighbors that are not excited about having [clean energy projects] in their backyard or across the road, next door, whatever.”
While projects do go through an application process through the regional grid, Rep. Dobrinski said the process can take years. In the meantime, companies often start working on deals with landowners, and those deals, he said, often include non-disclosure agreements.
Rep. Dobrinski said farmers often don’t have the opportunity to discuss the project with their neighbors “before they’re deep into a contract that, you know, maybe isn’t best for everybody.”
The Renewable Energy Facility Act, or HB 2155, mandates that the Oklahoma Corporation Commission “promulgate rules to protect the interests of citizens” and requires facility operators to register with the Commission, provide financial security and obtain an approved permit before beginning operations. The bill outlines specific requirements for the permit application, including details about the facility, safety and environmental plans and notification procedures for adjacent landowners. The rules would apply to wind energy, solar energy, battery storage, hydrogen energy and other renewable energy sources.
The bill would also require the project owner to notify people whose land is within a half-mile radius of the project at least 60 days before beginning development.
The permitting process isn’t meant to be restrictive, said Rep. Dobrinski, “It’s just an opportunity for early identification and hopefully public notification, so that neighboring landowners might have an earlier opportunity to become aware of it and how it’s going to affect them.”
“The new interest in solar really has me concerned,” Rep. Dobrinski said. Oklahoma has “30 more days’ worth of sunshine above the average U.S. state, and our lower land values, our lower transmission costs here … all of those things make Oklahoma a prime target for many of these development companies,” he said.
Rep. Dobrinski added he certainly doesn’t intend for the bill to be a moratorium on solar “because we do need additional energy.” He noted that solar projects are also opportunities for agricultural producers “who are getting older and want to set up some generational income for their families that aren’t coming back and taking over the operation.”
The bill imposes a permit fee, which would be capped at $400,00, based on the project’s size. If passed, operational projects will also need a permit by 2026 but the fee will be waived.
Rep. Dobrinski co-authored a separate bill with Sen. Case Murdock (R) this legislative session that also centers around neighbors’ viewpoints.
HB 2156 , which passed the House of Representatives and is pending in the Senate, imposes setback requirements on solar facilities and associated battery storage projects, requiring them to be at least 500 feet from homes and other occupied buildings. Projects would also be required to be at least 100 feet from the center lines of public roads and half a mile from any public school or hospital.
“We just want to give them some sort of protection that these [renewable energy projects] aren’t going to be right up next to the house,” he said. “There’s a lot of lot of ways to look at this, and we don’t want to step on anybody’s rights.” He added, “But we want to try and protect everyone as much as we can.”
Both bills are currently in the Senate and will be voted on by the Senate after the bills’ third reading. The bills include an emergency clause, allowing them to take effect immediately upon passage and approval.
Rep. Dobrinski also authored a pro-solar bill HB 2157, the Oklahoma Agrivoltaics Act, which works to buildout agrivoltaics so that solar projects can co-exist with the state’s heavy agricultural industry. The Oklahoma Agrivoltaics Act passed the House and is currently in the Senate.
In other news, the Oklahoma House of Representatives also passed the Commercial Solar Facility Decommissioning Act, a bill to ensure property owners aren’t left high and dry at the end of a solar project’s life or if the solar company goes out of business.
The bill ensures solar companies are held accountable for decommissioning projects, requiring them to remove all equipment from the property and restore the land to the same condition as before the solar project was installed.
Currently, Oklahoma does not have any regulations governing the decommissioning of projects with respect to the infrastructure and equipment’s removal, and the land’s restoration.
The bill places financial responsibility chiefly on the solar company and forbids contracts that would otherwise enable them to circumvent these obligations. This bill would also introduce new requirements that solar companies must follow such as requiring financial assurance to the landowner.
The bill passed the Senate’s energy committee April 17 in a unanimous vote. It currently awaits its third reading before it will go to a vote.
While Oklahoma ranks 41st in the country for solar capacity and gets just 0.55% of its electricity from solar, according to SEIA, the state’s solar is experiencing a surge in growth. According to solar intelligence firm, PV Intel, Oklahoma was one of fifteen states in which solar capacity grew by more than 50% in 2024.
