By Jeff Clark, President, Advanced Power Alliance
Across America’s small towns, farms, and ranches, the pressure has never been greater. Independent agriculture — the very backbone of rural life — is fighting an uphill battle against the forces of consolidation. Corporate farming has made it harder for families to hang on to their land to pass it down to future generations. At the same time, the export markets that once carried American products across the world are drying up, pushed aside by tariffs that make our crops and livestock less attractive to customers abroad. For farmers and ranchers who depend on global markets, this loss is devastating.
Layered on top of these challenges is another reality: the shrinking budgets of rural communities. Public schools are cutting staff, hospitals are struggling to keep their doors open, and counties are straining to maintain roads, law enforcement, and other basic services. Whether the funding cuts are coming from Washington or the state capitol, they hurt, especially as they fall on top of declining property tax bases and years of economic hardship. Communities that once thrived on agriculture and energy find themselves running out of options.
And yet, there is hope. Renewable energy and energy storage projects are investing at exactly the moment rural America needs them most. These projects bring new capital investments on a scale that most counties have never seen before. They usually become the largest taxpayers in the places they invest, sending millions of dollars to school districts, hospitals, and county budgets. For families who lease their land to wind, solar, or battery projects, renewables provide something that is increasingly rare in agriculture: a stable, long-term source of income. And the guarantee that the land used for these energy projects will be returned to its original state, guaranteeing land to future generations of farmers and ranchers.
A recent study of Texas put the impact into perspective. In that state, existing wind, solar, and energy storage projects are expected to generate between $7 and $9 billion in tax revenue for local governments over their lifetimes, with more than 60 percent of that money going straight into rural counties . On top of that, landowners will receive $7 to $11 billion in lease payments, steady and reliable checks that help keep farms and ranches afloat regardless of rainfall or volatile commodity market swings . These are not abstract figures. They are the difference between a school keeping its doors open or closing, between a hospital cutting staff or expanding services, between a ranch being sold off or staying in the family.
Renewable projects are also uniquely designed with rural values in mind. Unlike housing subdivisions or industrial development, they do not permanently remove land from agricultural use. When a wind farm or solar farm reaches the end of its useful life, it is decommissioned and the land is restored. Ranchland stays ranchland. Farmland stays farmland. Families can pass their land to future generations knowing it has served them without being lost to irreversible development.
The benefits ripple out even further. Renewable energy is not only good for rural counties; it is good for every American. Wind and solar are now the cheapest forms of new electricity available, driving down the cost of power for families and businesses alike. At a time when household budgets are stretched, renewables ease the strain with affordable bills. For American manufacturers, cheap electricity is a competitive weapon. It allows U.S. industries to hold their own against global competitors, attract new investment, and keep jobs here at home.
These are the facts. and they matter more than the noise. Renewable energy and energy storage are sometimes attacked by well-funded misinformation campaigns pushed by those who profit from the status quo. But the reality on the ground is clear to anyone who lives in a rural county with a wind farm, a solar array, or a battery project: these investments are stabilizing communities, preserving land, lowering electric bills, and giving rural America the shot at prosperity it deserves.
Rural America doesn’t want handouts. It wants opportunity, the chance to thrive, not just survive. It wants the chance to grow and diversify its economies to create opportunities for prosperity, and opportunities that keep sons and daughters in the community for generations. Renewable energy is delivering those opportunities. It is building schools, keeping hospitals open, cutting property taxes, and providing income that keeps land in the family. It is powering the nation with the cheapest electricity in history, while ensuring that the communities that have always powered America are not left behind.
That is something worth protecting, and worth celebrating.