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Local restrictions on U.S. renewables hit 865, killing 9.8 GW in 2025

7 min read
TODAY'S LEAD: A Columbia Law School report documents a 14 percent jump in contested projects, raising the cost of siting risk for every developer working outside friendly jurisdictions.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

  • Columbia Report Tallies 865 Local Renewable Barriers: Seventy new state and local restrictions on renewable energy projects were enacted in 2025, bringing the cumulative total to 865 across 19 states. Twenty-two projects totaling 9.8 GW were canceled, led by Nevada's 6.2 GW Esmeralda 7 Solar Project — PV Magazine. Read More: PV Magazine.
  • Google-Backed Solar Rises on Former W.Va. Coal Mine: MN8 Energy is developing an 86 MW solar project in West Virginia with 280 MWh of lithium-ion and 100 MWh of zinc-based long-duration storage from Eos Energy Enterprises, contracted to serve Google data centers on PJM — Utility Dive. Read More: Utility Dive.
  • $1B Nevada Transmission Line Breaks Ground: A 155-mile transmission project spanning Clark and Nye counties in Nevada began construction, with completion targeted for 2028 and a price tag of $1 billion — Las Vegas Review-Journal. Read More: Las Vegas Review-Journal.
  • Black Hills Energy Starts 200 MWh Colorado Battery: The utility is building a 50 MW / 200 MWh battery storage facility at its Pueblo Airport Generating Station in Colorado, adding dispatchable capacity to its system — Energy Storage News. Read More: Energy Storage News.
  • California Warms to New Nuclear Construction: California is weighing both an extended lifespan for the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant and permits for new reactor construction — a striking policy reversal for a state that once led the push to shutter its reactors — NYT. Read More: NYT.

Solar & Storage

The most technically interesting project crossing the wire today sits on a former coal mine in West Virginia. MN8 Energy's 86 MW solar installation pairs two chemistries — 280 MWh of lithium-ion batteries for short-duration dispatch and 100 MWh of zinc-based long-duration storage supplied by Eos Energy Enterprises — to deliver firm renewable power to Google's data centers through the PJM grid. The hybrid architecture matters: lithium handles the four-hour window that grid operators already know how to value, while the zinc system targets the longer, harder-to-serve discharge periods that data centers increasingly demand. For developers watching the long-duration storage market, a corporate offtaker of Google's caliber validating zinc chemistry sends a concrete commercial signal, as Solar Power World and Utility Dive both reported. Read More: Solar Power World, Utility Dive.

That project was first flagged in Monday's briefing; the new detail today is the explicit identification of Eos Energy Enterprises as the zinc storage supplier and the confirmation that the site is a former coal mine — a siting narrative that could smooth local permitting in Appalachia. In Colorado, Black Hills Energy is moving ahead with a 50 MW / 200 MWh battery at its Pueblo Airport Generating Station, a project that adds four hours of storage depth to an existing gas plant site, according to Energy Storage News. Co-locating storage at a thermal plant lets the utility reuse interconnection capacity and land — a template other utilities with aging gas assets are watching. Read More: Energy Storage News.

Smaller-scale projects are also stacking up. Encore Renewable Energy energized a solar installation on a closed landfill in Derry, New Hampshire, part of a broader trend of brownfield reuse that sidesteps agricultural land conflicts. In California, WestLight Energy is building a 1.5 MW solar plus 8 MWh battery microgrid in Pescadero, while additional utility-scale solar work continues in New York and near Houston, Texas, per Solar Builder. On the supply side, Inox Solar Americas signed an 800 MW solar module supply agreement with an unnamed but reportedly leading U.S. developer, a deal that bolsters the domestic panel pipeline at a moment when the Trump administration's new 15 percent solar import tariff — announced just Monday — is reshaping procurement math, as PV Tech reported. Read More: Solar Builder, PV Tech.

Policy & Markets

The numbers in the Columbia Law School report deserve close reading. The 865 local restrictions now tracked across 19 states represent an accumulation of zoning setbacks, moratoriums, and outright bans that collectively function as a shadow permitting regime — one that sits outside federal or state energy agencies and is driven by county boards and township supervisors. Of 567 projects contested since 2004, the 22 killed in 2025 alone wiped out 9.8 GW of planned capacity. The single largest casualty was Nevada's 6.2 GW Esmeralda 7 Solar Project, a loss big enough to power roughly 1.2 million homes. For developers, the takeaway is blunt: siting risk is now the dominant variable in project timelines, often exceeding interconnection delays. The 14 percent year-over-year increase in contested projects, reported by PV Magazine, suggests the trend has not peaked. Read More: reported by PV Magazine.

Meanwhile, Nevada is simultaneously building new grid backbone. A $1 billion, 155-mile transmission line spanning Clark and Nye counties broke ground this week with a 2028 target completion, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The irony is hard to miss: the same state that lost its largest proposed solar project to local opposition is now investing heavily in the transmission needed to move clean power. For investors, the project signals that wires-side infrastructure still faces less community friction than generation siting — a dynamic that could push capital toward transmission plays. Read More: Las Vegas Review-Journal.

In California, a different kind of policy pivot is underway. The state is actively considering both extending the life of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant and permitting new reactor construction, the New York Times reported. This reversal — from a state that passed legislation to close Diablo Canyon and long opposed nuclear power — reflects the brute math of decarbonization targets colliding with data center load growth. If California opens a licensing pathway for new reactors, it could reshape the national debate around nuclear energy's role in clean power portfolios. Read More: New York Times.

Separately, Glint Solar launched a land screening tool to help developers evaluate parcels across multiple U.S. states for solar and battery storage suitability, per PV Tech. With 865 local restrictions now on the books, any tool that helps developers avoid hostile jurisdictions before spending money on site control has an obvious market. Read More: PV Tech.

LOOKING AHEAD

  • PJM Capacity Overhaul: The grid operator's proposed 6 GW backstop auction for data center load, flagged Monday, will draw stakeholder comments in the weeks ahead — watch for generator and demand-side pushback on the mechanism's design.
  • Solar Tariff Fallout: The Trump administration's new 15 percent solar import tariff will begin reshaping procurement decisions; expect module supply agreements like the Inox deal to accelerate as developers lock in prices before cost pass-throughs hit.
  • Nevada Transmission Timeline: The $1 billion southern Nevada line targets 2028 completion across 155 miles — permitting milestones in Clark and Nye counties will signal whether that schedule holds.

TODAY'S QUICK ANSWERS

Q: What does the 14 percent rise in contested renewable projects mean for developer site selection?

A: With 865 local restrictions now tracked across 19 states and 9.8 GW canceled in 2025 alone, developers face a growing patchwork of hostile jurisdictions. Brownfield sites — former coal mines, closed landfills, existing industrial land — are becoming preferred precisely because they dodge the agricultural and viewshed objections driving most local bans. Expect pre-development spending on community engagement and land screening tools to rise materially.

Q: Why does Google's zinc-battery bet in West Virginia matter beyond one project?

A: It pairs zinc-based long-duration storage from Eos Energy Enterprises with conventional lithium-ion at commercial scale under a corporate PPA from one of the world's largest power buyers. If the 100 MWh zinc system performs, it gives other hyperscale offtakers a template for contracting firm renewables — and gives long-duration storage startups the bankability reference they have struggled to secure.

Q: What should clean energy investors watch in California's nuclear pivot?

A: California considering new reactor construction — not just extending Diablo Canyon — signals that even the most renewables-friendly states see a generation gap they cannot close with solar, wind, and storage alone. If the state moves to permit new reactors, it would create a regulatory template that other Western states could follow, potentially unlocking federal loan guarantee capital for advanced nuclear designs.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Local siting opposition killed nearly 10 GW of U.S. renewables in a single year, and the developers still winning are the ones placing projects on brownfields, pairing them with emerging storage chemistry, and securing creditworthy offtakers before breaking ground.