Wind & Solar Leasing in Jay County, IN: Two Wind Farms, One Solar Project

Jay County isn't a place where wind and solar leasing is a future possibility -- two utility-scale wind farms are already generating power here, and a third major project, a 39-megawatt solar facility near Dunkirk, is moving through construction. Here's what's actually built, what's pending, and what a landowner should ask before signing a lease.

This page covers what's specific to Jay County. For the general explanation, see the national guide.

Two completed wind farms, both fully operational

Jay County's energy-development history runs back to 2017. The Bluff Point Wind Energy Center, a 119.7-megawatt project spanning Jay and Randolph counties, was built by affiliates of NextEra Energy Resources in partnership with American Electric Power and was commissioned in October 2017, using 57 GE turbines with roughly 2.1 megawatts of nameplate capacity each. It's been generating power continuously since, with about five full-time jobs supporting ongoing operations.

Farther into the county, the Bitter Ridge Wind Farm reached commercial operation in September 2020. Developed by Scout Clean Energy on roughly 10,000 acres, it runs 52 GE turbines totaling 130 megawatts of capacity -- enough to power the equivalent of about 49,000 homes annually. The project holds a federal Incidental Take Permit (issued June 2021) covering the Indiana bat and northern long-eared bat, both federally protected species, reflecting the level of environmental review a project this size requires. Scout Clean Energy's own materials estimate the county will receive more than $18 million in tax revenue over the project's expected life, with more than half of that directed to Jay County Schools -- a concrete, sourced figure rather than a general economic-development promise.

A third project, solar, is now under construction commitments

Hodson Energy's New Jay Solar project adds a third major energy development to the county: a 39-megawatt solar facility on a 311-acre site in Richland Township, just east of Dunkirk. The Jay County Plan Commission unanimously approved the project's Economic Development Plan in May 2024, backed by an estimated $67.5 million investment and projected to bring roughly $13.3 million in county tax revenue over its operating life, plus a $2.516 million economic-development payment to the county spread over four years. The Jay County Council later approved an amended timeline, extending the deadline for the facility to begin generating electricity to no later than December 31, 2028 -- worth knowing if you're trying to gauge how soon actual construction activity, traffic, and site work will start near a specific parcel.

One important correction for anyone researching Jay County solar independently: search results on this topic frequently surface "Riverstart Solar Park," described as Indiana's largest solar farm by capacity. That project is located in Randolph County, not Jay County, and has nothing to do with land here -- don't let the geographic proximity of the two counties create confusion about which project affects which parcel.

What this means if you own land, or are being approached about a lease

If you own agricultural or rural land in Jay County, particularly anywhere near the Bluff Point or Bitter Ridge footprints or the New Jay Solar site near Dunkirk, understand that this county already has an established track record of siting large energy projects and that county government has structured real, quantifiable tax-revenue-sharing arrangements (the Bitter Ridge school-funding allocation and the New Jay Solar economic-development payment among them) around that development. That history is a reasonable starting point for evaluating a new lease offer's credibility, though it's not a substitute for your own review of the specific lease terms -- decommissioning obligations, easement duration, payment escalation, and what happens to the land at the end of the lease term all deserve independent legal review regardless of how established a developer's local track record is.

For current parcel-level status -- whether a specific property falls inside an active project's footprint, an approved-but-not-yet-built overlay, or none of the above -- confirm directly with the Jay/Portland Building & Planning Department rather than relying on a project's originally announced boundary, since both Bitter Ridge and New Jay Solar have seen changes to timeline or scope since their initial approvals.

Wind and Solar Energy Leasing in Jay County, Indiana

Two completed wind farms, both fully operational

A third project, solar, is now under construction commitments

What this means if you own land, or are being approached about a lease

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