The retail and technology giant Amazon has announced a renewable energy project in Tunica County, MS, providing clean, affordable electricity to homes and businesses.
Action News 5 reported the Delta Wind Farm project will create hundreds of jobs, spur economic development, and power Amazon’s fulfillment center, delivery stations, and a Whole Foods Market. Amazon has been working on several renewable energy projects in Mississippi, including five solar farms.
According to Action News, once the Delta Wind Farm in Tunica County is fully operational, the six projects in Mississippi are expected to generate more than 1,850 gigawatt-hours (GWH) of clean energy, equal to the amount of electricity needed to power 174,600 U.S. homes, yearly.
The wind farm slated for Tunica County will be owned by Virginia-based energy company AES and will sell power to Amazon. NBC News reported that could give the Mississippi county a large windfall, something residents in the county could use, since its once-booming casino industry has fallen on hard times.
“Accepting this project here could move us to another level,” James Dunn
, a member of the Tunica County Board of Supervisors, told NBC News.The project, however, does have its opponents. Many of those who are against the project pointed out that, while AES will need 300 workers to complete the wind farm, it will only hire between seven and ten people to maintain and operate it.
Others believe that Mississippi’s more than $1 trillion in renewable energy investments has led to localities fighting over the projects and, as a result, many are offering big tax breaks to lure energy companies.
“We gave away too much,” Joe Eddie Hawkins, the county’s former road manager told NBC.
Hawkins added that he supports renewable energy projects to fight climate change, but disapproved of the decade-long tax break the county gave AES, under which it will pay only a third of the property taxes it would normally owe.
Tunica County residents are familiar with how tax breaks can change their area. The county was one of the poorest in the U.S. until the early 1990s, when it became one of the busiest gambling areas in the south. The gambling brought millions in revenue to an area that was known for poor housing and underperforming schools.
However, in recent years, gambling has decreased and three casinos have closed as other southern states have embraced casinos. The county still has its issues today. For starters, the county doesn’t have a hospital and most of its residents still live under the poverty line.