Editor’s note: This essay is part of Mississippi Today Ideas, a platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share fact-based ideas about our state’s past, present and future. You can read more about the section here.
In Tunica County, Mississippi, wind energy is working.
Delta Wind, the state’s first utility-scale wind farm, has brought over $350 million in investment to the area and electricity to power 80,000 homes each year.
Wind projects are often among the largest taxpayers in the communities where they’re built. Delta Wind is expected to deliver substantial benefits for Tunica County, with tens of millions in projected tax revenue over the life of the project, typically 20 to 30 years, per industry standards.
This creates long-term, stable funding to support local public schools, road repairs, emergency services and other critical public needs. Landowners who host turbines also receive annual lease payments, generating new income while continuing to farm their land. This is what it looks like when a community embraces opportunity.
Jaxon Tolbert Credit: Courtesy photoAcross several rural Mississippi counties, energy developers have signaled interest in making substantial investments in renewable energy. In some communities, local officials are actively considering updates to zoning ordinances that could determine whether — and how — those projects move forward.
Policies aligned with industry best practices could support continued farm operations while unlocking major economic opportunities for these areas.
Mississippi isn’t standing still at the state level. Gov. Tate Reeves recently signed SB 3166, a law that incentivizes investment in renewable energy. It may be a technical policy, but the signal is clear: the state is ready to welcome new investment, especially in agricultural communities.
Recently, the governor also launched Mississippi’s “Power Play” initiative—a broader effort to reduce regulatory barriers, encourage private investment and position the state as a leader in energy policy and innovation.
Now it’s time for Mississippi counties to turn that momentum into action, while wind investments are still on the table.
Investments in wind energy strengthen our communities in so many ways — powering statewide economic development, providing new local tax revenue, offering steady income to landowners and farmers, all while maintaining existing agricultural operations right up to the base of the turbines.
Not long ago, opportunities like these were only available to our neighbors to the west — states like Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, where wind now powers a significant share of the electricity supply and early investments in wind helped fund schools, strengthen infrastructure and diversify rural economies.
In a recent episode of WBUR’s On Point podcast, Samuel Davis, a sixth-generation rancher in Texas, said: “Not every county, not every community, is blessed with oil and gas. People say, ‘Why don’t they just drill for oil?’ Well, they don’t have it, so you have to be resourceful. Every county, every school district has to use what they have.”
Thanks to advances in turbine technology, these same kinds of opportunities are now available to Mississippians. But realizing them will depend on local governments stepping forward to catch the wind while they still can.
This is a chance to bring millions in new tax revenue, land payments and jobs to more counties across the state. Tunica County showed what’s possible. It embraced the opportunity and helped launch a project that’s delivering homegrown power and investing in the future of its schools, families and local services.
The wind is blowing. The only question is: Who will catch it?
Jaxon Tolbert is a senior program associate at the Southeastern Wind Coalition, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to advance the wind industry in the Southeast. The coalition provides fact-based information on the economic opportunities of wind energy and promotes solutions that benefit residents and ratepayers. Tolbert leads onshore wind efforts across the central Southeast, including Mississippi.
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