Three Southeastern states, three different ways of telling their solar stories. 

In Alabama, a new study frames solar as a jobs and revenue engine, suggesting thousands of jobs, higher wages, and millions in tax revenue if policy barriers come down. 

Arkansas counters with a farming-first angle: solar would use far less than 1% of its agricultural land even under aggressive development, making room for leases and rural revenue. 

Tennessee weighs land use against growth, showing that even substantial solar expansion would consume a small share of total land and a modest portion of farmland, while agrivoltaics offer a path to coexistence. 

Together, they piece together a more nuanced picture: solar’s economic promise for the Southeast is real, but the path we choose for land use and policy will decide how clearly that promise becomes reality in rural communities.

Alabama
Energy Alabama last week released a new report showing that Alabama has the opportunity to create thousands of jobs, grow wages by more than a billion dollars, and generate hundreds of millions in tax revenue - all by expanding solar energy. 

The analysis, conducted by Mangum Economics, compared Alabama’s utility scale solar development to that of its southeastern peers: Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and found that: 

• In 2023, just 0.9% of Alabama’s electricity came from utility scale solar. Georgia generated 5.8% of its electricity from utility scale solar and North Carolina at 9.1%. 
• Within Alabama, as of 2023, 54% of Alabama’s utility scale solar generating capacity is located in the TVA service area, even though TVA serves just 25% of Alabama’s population across 13 counties. The rest of the state - 75% of Alabama’s population - is home to 46% of Alabama’s utility scale solar generating capacity.
• Georgia-level utility scale solar development in Alabama could have delivered an extra $1.1 billion in wages and benefits. Matching South Carolina’s level would have meant $317 million more.
• Georgia-level utility scale solar development in Alabama would have generated $235 million more in construction-related state and local tax revenue and $713 million more over 40 years of operations. The South Carolina equivalent of utility scale solar would have meant $65 million more in construction-related taxes and $196 million more over 40 years of operations.

“These numbers show what we already know: Alabama has the sun and the space to compete with our neighbors, but bad policy is blocking progress,” said Energy Alabama Executive Director Daniel Tait. “Every year we delay, we miss out on new jobs, new investment, and cleaner, cheaper energy for families and businesses.” In the press release announcing the report, Energy Alabama called on state leaders and regulators to modernize policies and remove barriers that hold back renewable energy investment.

Arkansas
According to an analysis released in Spring 2025 by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, large scale solar arrays occupy only about 0.2% of the 13.7 million acres of agricultural land in Arkansas, despite recent rapid growth in the solar sector. 

About 5.5 acres of land is required to produce one megawatt - or enough energy to power between 150-200 homes annually. 

By 2026, 15 counties in Arkansas, mostly in the agricultural-dominated Delta, will be home to utility-scale solar arrays. 

Private landowners often lease land for solar development, sometimes over a 30-year contract, the study explained. Voluntary solar land leases range from $450 to $2,500 per acre, with a preference for cleared, leveled or southward sloping lands that are not wetlands. “Utility-scale solar is an opportunity for Southeast communities,” SREA Executive Director Simon Mahan said. “It provides long-term lease income to local families, generates tax revenue for public services, and supports job creation in rural areas.”

As solar energy production has ramped up, concerns over the displacement of agricultural land for non-food production purposes have also ramped up, the report’s co-author notes.

"With the Arkansas economy more reliant on agriculture compared to the nation and surrounding states, diversion of agricultural land to other uses draws producer and consumer interest," said Mike Popp, the Harold F. Ohlendorf Professor of agricultural economics and agribusiness and co-author of a recently released fact sheet titled "Agricultural Land Footprint of Solar Photovoltaic Installations in Arkansas."

The study’s authors used data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and found that utility scale solar arrays will occupy 0.2% of the state's 13.7 million acres of agricultural land under current projections through 2026. In counties where these larger solar arrays are used, land use ranges from 0.2% to 1.7% of agricultural land.

Popp notes that as of 2023, Arkansas had about 15,000MW of electrical generating capacity if you combine natural gas, coal, nuclear and other energy sources like hydropower, solar and wind. According to the study, up to 133,500 acres of land would be required across the state to double the state's electrical generating capacity with solar, offsetting demand for power from natural gas, coal, nuclear and hydropower during the day. 

"Even under this extreme level of solar development, which is unlikely to happen, solar would use less than 1% of the 13.7 million acres of agricultural land," Popp said.

 
Tennessee
The University of Tennessee led the way in the Southeast when they released their study to evaluate the state’s current and projected land use for utility scale solar and its possible impacts on farmland - back in 2023. 

This groundbreaking study showed the total amount of land required to generate 1,474 MW - the state’s then-current operational and contracted utility scale generation amounts - it would require between 8,197 to 14,743 acres of land or 0.056% of the state’s total land mass or up to 0.137% of the state’s agricultural lands.

Even the addition of 10 gigawatts of solar power by the TVA by 2035 would raise those percentages to between 0.21% and 0.38% of the state’s total land or 0.52% to 0.93% of Tennessee’s farmland - and that’s assuming the 10GW isn’t spread out across TVA’s seven state footprint.

Solar development considerations for agriculture communities like the potential use of agrivoltaics was also addressed by the report, noting that agrivoltaics can provide benefits to land and the farmer, while helping ease concerns over removing farm land from production in some cases. 

Arrays can be built tall enough to allow for workers, farmers, animals and equipment underneath. In addition to providing shade for periods of high temperatures, agrivoltaics systems can be used to provide plant pollinator services. Importantly, the report notes that combining solar and agriculture on the same piece of land has been shown to improve ecosystems and to help regulate air quality, water retention, biodiversity, and water and soil conservation. 

Researchers also examined the extent that Tennessee farmland has been lost to urban and residential uses. The report noted that the American Farmland Trust (AFT) ranked Tennessee third among all US states in terms of “nationally significant agricultural land projected to be converted to urban and highly developed and low-density residential uses by 2040. The study points to the state’s increasing population as one factor. 

“From 1997 to 2017, Tennessee’s land in farms decreased from 11.99 million acres to 10.87 million acres, a reduction of 1.11 million acres or about 9% of Tennessee’s farmland. The state’s farmland loss is primarily due to its increasing population, and these losses are projected to continue. The American Farmland Trust projects Tennessee will convert another 420,000 farmland acres to urban and residential uses between 2016 and 2040.”

So what does this all mean?
Advocating for energy policy that upholds private property rights, supports voluntary market participation, and strengthens local economies are issues that stand at the heart of what SREA does for our members. In the Southeast—where landowners, not corporations or co-ops, often hold the key to regional economic development—utility-scale solar leasing offers a powerful way to generate income, preserve farmland, and invest in the future of rural communities.

But for this opportunity to succeed, local governments must adopt clear, fair, and legally defensible rules that allow landowners to lease their land for solar energy development if they choose. Landowners across the Southeast have long relied on income from leases—whether for timber, farming, hunting, or mineral rights—as a way to sustain generational land ownership. Solar leases work the same way. They are voluntary, negotiated agreements between willing landowners and energy developers. No one is forced to participate.

But increasingly, some counties and parishes are considering overly restrictive or vague local ordinances that have the practical effect of banning new solar projects—limiting landowners’ choices and closing off economic development. These “bans by regulation” not only stifle private enterprise, but also risk legal challenges under state property rights protections.

Utility-scale solar is an opportunity for Southeast communities. It provides long-term lease income to local families, generates tax revenue for public services, and supports job creation in rural areas. But none of this is possible without clear, fair rules that empower landowners—not restrict them.

Adopting smart ordinances that encourage investment while protecting their citizens is the way county and parish officials can uphold one of the region’s most cherished values—the right of every landowner to decide how best to use their land.