Alabama legislature mulls 1-year pause on big solar projects

Alabama, and specifically Baldwin County, are joining a growing number of U.S. municipalities and counties that are rethinking the repurposing of farmland and green spaces for wind and solar projects.

Summary

• Alabama, and specifically Baldwin County, are joining a growing number of U.S. municipalities and counties that are rethinking the repurposing of farmland and green spaces for wind and solar projects.
• Alabama Legislator Proposes Taking the Wind Out of Solar Statewide
• Bills are coursing their way through the Alabama State Legislature that could substantially curb the growth of solar energy farms in the state.

Residents of the unincorporated hamlet of Stockton in Baldwin County, Alabama, are pushing back against plans to construct a solar farm there. The solar facility would help power a data center being developed by multinational technology company Meta in Montgomery County, some 170 miles away.

The proposed 260-megawatt (MW) solar farm from developer Silicon Ranch would sit on 4,500 acres in Baldwin County, according to the company's website.

"Of that acreage we will own, we will manage 2,500 acres in long-term conservation and convert the remaining 2,000 acres to pastureland that will host energy infrastructure and a working sheep ranch," according to Silicon Ranch's website.

Alabama Power would purchase the electricity generated by the solar facility, helping to offset the energy requirements of the Meta data center. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Industrial Manufacturing Project and Plant databases can view the data base project reports and plant profile.

Stockton-area residents said they were blindsided by news of the solar project, according to news reports.

Now the activism of those residents has led to the filing of a flurry of legislation, including Senate Bill (SB) 354 whose author is State Senator Greg Albritton, who represents Stockton. If passed, this bill would immediately impose a one-year moratorium on all large-scale solar projects across much of the state. It would exclude rooftop solar panels.

Also, nine state legislators introduced HB 617 into the Alabama House of Representatives to do the same thing.

A third bill, HB 618, would take solar farm regulation a step further, assigning to counties the final authority for authorization. HB 618's synopsis says, "This bill would authorize certain county commissions to establish regulations related to the permitting, construction, placement, or operation of solar farms."

Why Not?

Residents listed two main concerns: One, that the solar farm could disturb the delicate ecology of the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta; second, that it would harm the town's historical heritage.

The Senate bill made it out of committee after being amended to exclude the northern third of the state, which is served by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), over concerns about disrupting operations at Huntsville's Redstone Arsenal. The TVA already operates several solar farms in its region. The bill only involves large-scale projects, not rooftop solar panels.

Opposing the Opposition

Proposed bills opposing solar expansion have their own opposition. It comes from the state's renewable energy advocacy group Energy Alabama, whose policy manager, John Dodd, spoke against it in the Alabama State Senate.

He said, "I understand the frustration that led to this bill. The situation in Stockton raises legitimate concerns. Residents there felt blindsided when a project moved forward quickly through the Public Service Commission without meaningful public awareness or input. And Stockton, with its sensitive wetlands and protected species, is exactly the type of place where careful review should happen. But the problem there wasn't solar energy. The problem was the process."

Silicon Ranch's View

Silicon Ranch Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Reagan Farr said, "Solar done right can be a tremendous attribute for the communities where we locate. We're very used to designing around sensitive environmental areas, and take that very seriously as part of our environmental stewardship mission."

As for Meta, its stated plan for the data center is for it to operate on "100% clean and renewable energy."

National Concerns Over Wind and Solar Farms

Industrial Info Energy Market Strategist Geoffrey S. Lakings said that the tug-o-war between local residents and large renewable energy farms is emblematic of a national issue. A February 21, 2026 USA Today story article that 24% of U.S. counties have restricted the building of new wind or solar facilities, up significantly from 13% in 2023. That publication blames the Trump administration, which has indeed cancelled or tried to cancel a number of such projects since coming to office in 2025. But the Alabama situation hints that the pushback motives could be more nuanced.

For example, California, which is among the most liberal states in energy policy, has restricted certain wind and solar projects over concerns that they could harm wildlife, invade wilderness areas, and interfere with an area's natural beauty, said the USA Today story.

Farming vs Renewables?

Concerns about farmland reduction are among the issues, but renewable power organizations say their operations have affected only a small percentage of agricultural resources.

Poweralliance.org quotes a U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service (ERS) study from September 2024. It says that, while from 2012 to 2020 more than 90% of commercial wind farms and 70% of commercial solar farms were installed on agricultural land, the percentage of total agricultural land affected was small. It amounted to 424,000 acres, less than 0.05% of the 897 million farming acres in the U.S.

The study said that about 85% of agricultural land around solar farms remained useful for farming.

By the Numbers

4,500 acres: Size of Silicon Ranch-proposed solar farm near Stockton, Alabama

One year: Proposed moratorium on new solar projects to review options

Key Takeaway

Nationally, a growing number of local governments are pushing back on large renewable projects--some from the right (Trump administration) and some from the left (wildlife and watershed concerns).