Ohio clears its biggest solar project after years of delay
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
- Ohio Approves 800 MW Oak Run Solar Project: The Ohio Power Siting Board granted a permit for the state's largest solar installation, an 800 MW facility with 300 MWh of battery storage in Madison County, after years of regulatory challenges. Canary Media. Read More: Canary Media.
- Sunrun-Tesla Virtual Power Plant Hits 580 MW Peak: Residential battery systems across California discharged a record 580 MW to the grid on September 9 during a heatwave, demonstrating the scale that aggregated home batteries can reach during emergencies. Energy Storage News. Read More: Energy Storage News.
- Sierra Club Finds 40% of Utilities Backtracking on Climate: A new report says more than 40% of major U.S. utilities have retreated from clean energy commitments since the start of the Trump administration, citing regulatory and policy headwinds. Canary Media. Read More: Canary Media.
- Massachusetts Awards $40 Million for 36 Battery Projects: The state distributed funding across three dozen battery energy storage systems, while PG&E separately committed $30 million to six microgrid projects in California. Energy Storage News. Read More: Energy Storage News.
- Con Edison Dispute Stalls NYC Battery Buildout: A conflict between Con Edison and energy storage developers over community-scale battery interconnection is slowing New York City's storage deployment at a critical moment for the city's grid. Canary Media. Read More: Canary Media.
Solar & Storage
Ohio's clean energy politics grew more tangled on Tuesday. The Power Siting Board's approval of Oak Run Solar — 800 MW of generation plus 300 MWh of battery storage in Madison County — removes a years-long permitting obstacle for what will be the state's largest solar project. But the green light lands in a statehouse that is simultaneously considering Senate Bill 294, which would redefine "clean energy" to include coal and gas while opposing solar and wind development. For developers with Ohio pipelines, the permit is a concrete win; the legislative push is a warning that project-level approvals and state-level energy definitions are moving in opposite directions. Read More: redefine "clean energy" to include coal and gas.
Across the Midwest, NorthStar Clean Energy powered on the 120 MW Hart Solar Project in Oceana County, Michigan, with power purchase agreements from Executive Energy Services and the Michigan Public Power Agency covering portions of the output. The project will supply enough electricity for more than 21,000 homes. In Wisconsin, Milwaukee's largest solar installation came online on a capped landfill — a useful proof point for developers hunting brownfield sites where land-use conflicts are minimal. Read More: came online.
The financing pipeline showed signs of life as well. 38 Degrees North secured $260 million for community solar projects in New York and Illinois, and FlexGen partnered with Lightshift for energy storage development in Massachusetts. Those capital commitments matter because storage and community solar are two segments where federal policy uncertainty has made lenders cautious.
California's battery sector delivered its own headline. On September 9, residential battery systems operated by Sunrun and Tesla discharged a record 580 MW to the grid during a heatwave through a virtual power plant partnership. That figure rivals the output of a mid-sized gas peaker and demonstrates that aggregated home batteries have crossed from pilot curiosity to meaningful grid resource. Separately, PG&E selected six new microgrid projects for a $30 million investment in California, adding another layer of distributed resilience. Read More: discharged a record 580 MW, $30 million investment.
On the East Coast, Massachusetts awarded $40 million across 36 battery storage projects — a broad distribution that favors smaller community-scale systems over a few large installations. That approach contrasts with New York City, where a dispute between Con Edison and storage developers is actively slowing the battery buildout. The fight centers on community-scale batteries — installations that fall between residential backup and utility-scale — and their interconnection terms. For developers with New York City projects in queue, this is a practical chokepoint that no amount of state incentive money can bypass until the utility and developers reach agreement. Read More: actively slowing the battery buildout.
Industry groups, meanwhile, are trying to smooth the path for future solar projects before siting battles begin. The American Clean Power Association, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and the Energy and Wildlife Action Coalition released National Utility-Scale Solar Wildlife Guidelines designed to push environmental review earlier in development timelines. The guidelines cite the Soda Mountain Solar Project in San Bernardino County, California, as a cautionary example of the delays that late-stage wildlife conflicts can trigger. Early engagement with state wildlife agencies is voluntary, but the framework gives developers a standardized playbook — and potentially a shield against litigation — if they follow it. Read More: National Utility-Scale Solar Wildlife Guidelines.
Policy & Markets
A Sierra Club report issued Tuesday gave major U.S. utilities a "failing grade" on the clean energy transition, finding that more than 40% have backtracked on climate commitments since the Trump administration took office in January 2025. The analysis points to regulatory and policy headwinds as the primary drivers. Investors tracking utility decarbonization pledges should note the report's implication: commitments made during the previous administration are proving softer than they appeared, particularly where state-level regulatory support has weakened. Read More: "failing grade".
The data center electricity question continues to roil Congress. The House has passed a bill requiring data centers to absorb the full cost of electricity generation they demand — a measure this briefing first flagged last week — but the Senate remains stuck. President Trump has signaled support for data center expansion broadly, creating a tension between the White House's growth-friendly posture and congressional concern about rate impacts on other customers. With midterm elections approaching, the legislation's fate may hinge on whether incumbents see data center cost allocation as a voter issue. For clean energy developers, the outcome matters directly: data centers are among the largest off-takers for new renewable generation, and any rule that shifts cost burdens could reshape which projects pencil out. Read More: first flagged last week.
Ohio's legislative push to redefine clean energy via Senate Bill 294 adds another dimension. By potentially classifying coal and gas as "clean," the bill could dilute renewable portfolio standards and redirect incentives away from solar and wind. Combined with Ohio's 34% electricity price surge since 2022 — documented in a state audit covered in yesterday's briefing — the political environment for renewables in the state is growing more hostile even as individual projects like Oak Run clear permitting hurdles.
LOOKING AHEAD
- Oak Run Solar Construction Timeline: With its permit secured, developers of the 800 MW Ohio project will face scrutiny over construction schedules and supply chain readiness; watch for offtake announcements and financing milestones.
- Senate Action on Data Center Cost Bill: The House-passed measure requiring data centers to absorb generation costs still needs Senate approval, and the approaching midterms could either accelerate or kill the legislation.
- Con Edison Storage Interconnection Resolution: New York City's battery buildout depends on resolving the dispute between Con Edison and community-scale storage developers; regulatory intervention or a negotiated settlement could come in the weeks ahead.
TODAY'S QUICK ANSWERS
Q: What does the 580 MW Sunrun-Tesla virtual power plant record mean for grid planners?
A: It means aggregated residential batteries are no longer a rounding error. At 580 MW of peak discharge during a California heatwave, home battery fleets now rival the output of conventional peaker plants. Grid operators and utilities should expect virtual power plants to compete seriously in capacity markets, and developers building utility-scale storage should factor in this distributed competition when modeling revenue.
Q: Why should developers care about the new wildlife guidelines for utility-scale solar?
A: Because wildlife conflicts are among the most unpredictable sources of project delay and cost overruns. The Soda Mountain project in California is cited as a case study of what goes wrong when environmental review comes too late. Following the voluntary ACP-AFWA framework won't guarantee smooth permitting, but it gives developers a documented process that may reduce litigation risk and speed state-level approvals.
Q: With over 40% of utilities retreating on climate commitments, what should clean energy investors watch?
A: Watch utility integrated resource plans and procurement timelines, not press releases. The Sierra Club report suggests that voluntary pledges made before January 2025 are weakening under current regulatory conditions. Investors should stress-test project pipelines against actual utility procurement behavior rather than stated targets, especially in states where regulatory commissions have shifted posture under the Trump administration.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Projects are still getting built and batteries are delivering real grid power at scale, but the policy scaffolding beneath the U.S. clean energy buildout — from utility commitments to state energy definitions to interconnection rules — is visibly eroding, and developers who count on yesterday's political assumptions are taking on risk they may not be pricing.