Missouri Senate proposes bill seeking solar moratorium until 2027
A new bill filed in the Missouri Senate on Jan. 7, 2026 could temporarily suspend all solar project construction through a statewide moratorium until the beginning of 2028.
Introduced and sponsored by District 18 Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin, a Republican serving rural northeastern Missouri and currently serving as the state body’s president pro tempore, the bill would add a section to the state’s Revised Statutes of Missouri. The added moratorium would halt construction on all solar projects throughout the Show Me State, as well as putting a hold on issuing permits for solar projects.
The bill has garnered support from Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, who took office in early 2025, replacing former Gov. Mike Parson.
“I am supportive of efforts from Senator O’Laughlin to put basic guardrails around industrial solar developments that are dividing our rural communities,” Kehoe said during his 2026 State of the State address on Jan. 13, “because we have to protect our resources for the generations to come.”
The bill also comes with an emergency clause, allowing it to go into effect immediately once signed into law by Kehoe, rather than waiting the standard 90 day period before enactment.
Solar association reactions
Sean Gallagher, senior VP of policy for the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), says that a ban or moratorium of this kind would be first of its kind when it comes statewide legislature.
“Solar PV and battery storage are the best, most cost-effective way to affordably secure Missouri’s energy future, and solar accounts for over one-third of the new grid capacity planned to be built over the next five years in Missouri,” Gallagher says. “A statewide moratorium on solar would be unprecedented.
“Enacting one would send a message to potential investors that Missouri is closed for business, raise electricity prices for everyday people, and harm the property rights of the many farmers who should be able to make their own decisions about how to use their land.”
According to SEIA statistics, Missouri ranked 13th out of the 50 states in 2025 solar energy additions and currently ranks 31st overall. The Gateway to the West added 612 MW of solar capacity in 2025 alone, over one third of the state’s overall capacity as of early 2026. The vast majority of those newly added MW came from utility-scale projects including Arevon’s Kelso Solar project, sporting a total price tag of more than $500 million.
