Texas, still the US's top oil producer, now leads the country in electricity from solar farms; in Uvalde, farmer Steve Cargil earns $200,000 a year by leasing 600 acres to OCI Energy, helping keep his farm running through drought.
Texas generated more electricity from solar than coal for the first time in March 2025, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Mark Stover of the Texas Solar and Storage Association says solar supplies about a third of Texas's power on hot afternoons; he cites quick grid connections, rising demand and lower costs as drivers. He says leases typically last 25 to 30 years and rise in value annually.
The expansion has also drawn opposition in rural areas. Franklin County residents helped enact one of Texas's first county-level moratoriums on new solar construction, but it was later rescinded under legal pressure from developers. Critics cite tree clearing, runoff and battery-storage concerns; local lawyer BF Hicks also recalls smoke from burning cleared land and says a solar farm was built next to his family's cemetery.
