Southeast Missourian | March 11, Trey Wiginton
As the Mayor of Marble Hill, my responsibility is to protect our community’s future by supporting growth, strengthening our local economy and ensuring responsible development. I have seen firsthand how empowering landowners to welcome solar energy projects brings meaningful benefits to our community, from private investment to long-term tax revenue. That progress is now at risk. A statewide solar moratorium would threaten one of the few reliable avenues for economic development available to rural Missouri, cutting off opportunities in regions that can least afford to lose it.
In Bollinger County, planned solar energy projects will bring direct tax revenue. These investments will strengthen our schools, improve local infrastructure, and help ensure Bollinger County remains a place where families can live, work, and stay for generations. These energy projects create jobs and long-term community economic benefits, not short-term gains. Banning them would mean fewer jobs, less revenue and fewer resources for the services our residents depend on.
Beyond the economic benefits, renewable energy development is a willing partnership between local landowners and developers. No farmer is being forced to participate, and at the end of the day, I believe the landowners’ rights to develop should not be trampled by the state. No one knows better than our agricultural community what the best use of their land is, and if solar energy can help keep farms in families, I believe that is their decision to make.
As Missouri grows, diversifying our energy sources and strengthening our power grid is not optional; it’s necessary. Solar energy is an ingredient of an all-of-the-above strategy that helps protect our communities from power shortages and rising energy costs while improving reliability.
A ban on solar development would have lasting consequences, harming local economies and weakening our energy security. We must preserve the right of local communities and landowners to pursue responsible renewable energy development. Smart, reasonable guardrails for site development guidelines, and a decommissioning plan to be part of the permitting process and not blanket bans, are the best way to protect rural economies, our energy grid, and private landowners’ rights.
Fear and uncertainty are not economic development strategies. Missouri should support landowners and choose growth, opportunity and common sense. Join me in saying no to solar bans and yes to responsible guardrails that allow our communities to thrive.
Trey Wiginton is mayor of Marble Hill.
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