Solar power in Mississippi

Mississippi has substantial potential for solar power, though it remains an underutilized generation method. The rate of installations has increased in recent years, reaching 438 MW of installed capacity in early 2023, ranking 36th among the states. Rooftop photovoltaics could provide 31.2% of all electricity used in Mississippi from 11,700 MW if solar panels were installed on every available roof.Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Technical Potential in the United States: A Detailed Assessment

In 2011, the Sierra Club sued the United States Department of Energy which was providing investment in a coal gasification plant being built by Mississippi Power.Sierra Club suing DOE over Kemper coal plant, Mississippi Business Journal, March 11, 2011 In 2012, Mississippi Power had only 0.05% renewables in its power mix. In a settlement in 2014, Mississippi Power agreed to allow net metering, and to offer 100 MW of wind or solar power purchase agreements. Mississippi is one of only two states, along with Florida, to have no potential for standard commercial wind power, having no locations that would provide at least 30% capacity factor, although 30,000 MW of 100 meter high turbines would operate at 25% capacity factor.Mississippi Wind Power

Mississippi Power, which provides energy in southeast Mississippi, has started a program to contract for 210 MW of solar power in 2014, possibly increasing to 525 MW. 100 MW would be from small scale distributed installations.Advanced Solar Initiative , Georgia Power

Offering net metering is required by federal law, but Mississippi is one of only four states to not have adopted a statewide policy on net metering, which means it needs to be negotiated with the utility.

Statistics Source: NREL

Grid-connected PV capacity (MW)Solar report cleanenergy.orgYearCapacityChange% Change 2009 0.1 2010 0.3 0.1 200% 2011 0.6 0.3 100% 2012 0.7 0.1 17% 2013 1.0 0.3 43% 2014 1.0 0 0% 2015 1.1 0.1 10% 2016 6 0.9 545% 2017 72 66 1200% 2018 187 115 260% 2019 242.3 55.3 29% 2020 318.4 76.1 31% 2021 319.6 1.2 % 2022 437 117.4 %

+ Utility-scale solar generation in Mississippi (GWh) Year Total Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2017 84 0 0 0 0 1 3 14 11 13 14 14 14 2018 326 20 16 30 34 37 35 34 32 27 28 17 16 2019 322 19 16 26 31 35 32 33 30 31 20 27 22 2020 434 23 27 34 44 49 45 42 43 34 36 30 27 2021 303 26 25 35 46 46 42 41 42

Installations Four megawatts at Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport by Hannah Solar, Mississippi Power's developerSolar power breaking new ground in South Mississippi, Sun Herald

Solar power in Mississippi

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