Missouri lawmakers are thinking about putting new limits and tighter rules on solar energy projects — from how close they can be built to homes and schools, to how they’re taxed and regulated.
State Rep. Kent Haden, R-Mexico, is sponsoring the bill. Haden told Missourinet he believes it is critical that all taxation should remain local.
“Because if we don’t, we could have all the negatives and no income for the counties or the schools with solar,” said Haden. “Two, the land underneath it, even if it’s a lease, would be taxed as commercial and not agricultural.”
Haden said one of the big forces behind the rapid push for large solar sites is the growing demand from data centers. And he argues the state needs clearer guardrails before those projects continue to expand.
“They have to have water, they have to have land, they have to have flat land with no zoning,” said Haden. “And those three things put an X on Audrain and Callaway counties. So, we’re taking our farmland away from our farmers under eminent domain, and we’re building driveways to a data center.”
Haden told Missourinet that regulations are necessary especially in his district in central Missouri’s Audrain and Callaway Counties, where around 20,000 acres are already under contract for solar projects.
“The hard work is done getting people signed up and the rates and the contracts are in place,” said Haden. “So, I think we will have another major solar build out in the next five years and the funding will come from data centers.”
Under the bill, solar farms would have to follow new statewide rules like giving homes and schools more space, changing how the land is taxed, and meeting updated building standards.
The bill is now awaiting a House committee vote.
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