‘Behind the meter’ legislation sparks industrial park, data center development in Chickasha

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CHICKASHA — Jim Cowan, executive director of the Chickasha Economic Development Council, has spent years promoting tourism in a city best known for its giant leg lamp.

That changed 18 months ago when a private developer joined city and state leaders to transform a mile-long road through a wheat field into the center of what they’re calling the “Oklahoma Land Run 2.0.”

If all goes to plan, the field will soon be home to an industrial park, anchored by a data center with its own power plant. That development may not have been possible — or legal — without SB 480. The “behind the meter” bill passed the Oklahoma Legislature this year with unanimous support, allowing companies to build off-the-grid power plants. Supporters say the measure will boost economic growth by easing energy burdens on utilities and accelerate large-scale development projects in the state.

‘Most important economic development bill in the history of the state’

At an event that was part press conference, part rally to promote Chickasha’s industrial park, SB 480 co-author Rep. Brad Boles said the legislation clarifies vague language that made businesses wary of building off-the-grid power plants to support their industrial developments in Oklahoma.

“Would you make a large investment if you’re not sure if you’re going to get sued, not sure if it’s going to hold up in court, or would you go to a different state where there’s more clarity?” Boles (R-Marlow) said at the event. “Well, you probably want to make that investment with certainty, right? So what this bill does is this provides certainty and clarity to industry.”

SB 480 specifies that companies can build their own electricity generation facilities “behind the meter” of whatever investor-owned utility is required to serve their area, meaning those utilities do not have to account for that portion of the company’s electricity consumption needs when calculating grid capacity power purchases.

Boles, whose legislative district covers the south edge of Chickasha, has announced a 2026 campaign to succeed term-limited Commissioner Todd Hiett on the Corporation Commission. He said the bill lets companies bypass years-long permitting processes and protects Oklahomans from rising utility rates. Instead of passing costs associated with expanding utilities’ infrastructure onto ratepayers, private companies bear that responsibility.

“[Developments] should not affect the ratepayers at all,” Boles told NonDoc. “[Utility providers] would have to add capacity, or maybe even add a generator, to cover a new facility, and a part of the utility cost that you have in your monthly bill is infrastructure improvements or upgrades. This (bill) basically allows private industry to take that risk and make that investment instead.”

Bond Payne, the executive chairman of Citizen Capital, which is financing the Chickasha development, praised SB 480 as transformational at the June press conference.

“This is the most important economic development bill in the history of the state,” Payne said. “It puts Oklahoma in play for billions of dollars in private investment that’s flowing to new power generation and the industries of the future.”

For an off-the-grid power plant to be legal, SB 480 required that it must feature “a natural gas component” to its generation. As years go by, Gov. Kevin Stitt predicted the measure would attract billions in investment and thousands of jobs, with ripple effects across a variety of sectors.

“It’s going to bring in billions of dollars worth of investments,” Stitt said. “And when we get our economy moving, guess what? It helps education, infrastructure and health care. Everybody wins.”

‘A clear message that Oklahoma’s open for business’

The 200-acre Chickasha Industrial Park is planned include 48 lots for small businesses, a data center and a dedicated power plant. Stitt credited developer Chet Hitt and private financiers for putting the project together, noting the $3.5 billion investment is “the largest economic private investment in Chickasha history.”

“This sends a clear message that Oklahoma’s open for business,” Stitt said. “When government gets out of the way and just lets businesses innovate, that’s when the magic happens.”

Although it will likely be several years before the development reaches its operational capacity, Cowan said construction is expected to begin this fall. The largest unknown for the development is which company will operate a data center in Chickasha, as developers said they are in talks with “several” potential operators.

While data centers have drawn criticism for straining local utilities, Cowan said Chickasha’s on-site plant will preempt those concerns.

“Communities are like, ‘Oh my gosh, what’s that going to do to our local rates?'” Cowan said. “What’s different about Chickasha is we’re starting with a power plant. Data centers nationally are lined up wanting to come into communities like Chickasha, but they have to overcome the huge amount of power that they need. We already have that taken care of.”

Hitt, who grew up in Anadarko before moving to California, said he plans to bring dozens of small businesses to Chickasha. At the June press conference, he recalled the devastation he witnessed as large manufacturers left towns.

“[Chickasha] had a big plant with Delta that provided a thousand jobs, and at the end of the day, when they packed up and left, it hurt,” Hitt said. “This community is just now coming back. So, for me, when I looked at this development here, I said, ‘I’d much rather have 50 new businesses with 50 jobs than I would one big company,’ and that’s what we’re going after.”

Hitt announced that a longtime Chickasha manufacturer will be the park’s first tenant, though he and Cowan declined to name the company.

After years in California, Hitt said has been working to bring West Coast businesses to Oklahoma. State-level incentives play a crucial role in those recruitment efforts, Cowan said. Among the most important is the Quality Jobs Incentive managed by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, which repays 5 percent of payroll costs for up to 10 years on jobs that meet certain salary thresholds in certain industries.

“It’s not just an incentive to come here,” Cowan said. “It’s an incentive after they’ve been here and performed.”

That strategy anchors the “Oklahoma Land Run 2.0” campaign, aimed at showing companies — especially in California — they can get “free land” and stretch their dollars in Oklahoma.

If successful, Cowan said the industrial park could bring new jobs, housing and tax revenue that could reshape the seat of Grady County.

“This is an area that has grown beautiful wheat, but it sure hadn’t grown any jobs,” Cowan said. “But in 10 years, we’re talking about the type of ad valorem (property) taxes that change a city, a county, a school system forever.”

He pointed to Pryor, where Google has operated a data center since 2012, as a model. There, he said billions in investment and hundreds of jobs transformed the community.

Cowan hopes Chickasha’s development can do the same if state and local leaders stay aggressive.

“It’s about everybody working together saying, ‘Hey, we want to see change,'” Cowan said. “I’m excited to see a city that hasn’t done much in the past 50 years stand up and say, ‘You know what? We want to make things happen. We believe in ourselves.'”

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