(Photo from Delta Wind)
- The study committee would be tasked with collecting information on aviation incidents, wildlife-mortality data, and farmland loss linked to wind turbine development.
The Mississippi Senate approved a strike-all amendment to a House bill Monday that would have limited wind turbines on farmlands.
Instead, the Senate choose to create a study committee on the issue while requiring those seeking to construct a new wind-tower facility in the next year to submit a Waterfowl Impact Assessment to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks for review and approval. However, existing projects currently under construction are grandfathered under the strike-all amendment.
“The bill that came to us from the House was a little egregious,” said Senate Energy Committee Chairman State Senator Joel Carter (R) on why the committee approved a strike-all amendment to the House bill.
Carter’s amendment would also transfer the responsibility of conducting waterfowl assessment studies from the Public Service Commission to the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.
If signed into law, the Wind-Tower Agricultural and Environmental Impact Study Committee will include Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson (R) as chairman, the executive director of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, the executive director of the Public Service Commission, a representative from the Mississippi Agricultural Aviation Association, a member appointed by Mississippi Farm Bureau, a member of the Mississippi Delta Council, and one member from the House and Senate appointed by the Speaker and Lt. Governor, respectively.
The committee would be tasked with collecting information on aviation incidents, wildlife-mortality data, and farmland loss linked to wind turbine development. The members would also develop a statewide placement and permitting standard.
The first utility-scale windfarm operation in Mississippi was launched in June 2024, when AES brought the 41 wind turbines project to the Mississippi Delta. The operation sits on a 14,000-acre site in Tunica County that is privately held agricultural land.
On several occasions, Governor Tate Reeves (R) has said he “favors all the above” energy sources to keep electric power affordable for Mississippians and businesses.
The only vote in the Senate against the bill with the strike-all amendment was State Senator Bert Williams (R). The original House version passed that chamber by a vote of 116 to 4 in mid-February.
The bill now heads back to the House and likely to conference.
Daniel Tyson
