Judge, Siding With Trump, Saves Solar From NEPA
And more on the week’s biggest conflicts around renewable energy projects.
1. Jackson County, Kansas – A judge has rejected a Hail Mary lawsuit to kill a single solar farm over it benefiting from the Inflation Reduction Act, siding with arguments from a somewhat unexpected source — the Trump administration’s Justice Department — which argued that projects qualifying for tax credits do not require federal environmental reviews.
- We previously reported that this lawsuit filed by frustrated Kansans targeted implementation of the IRA when it first was filed in February. That was true then, but afterwards an amended complaint was filed that focused entirely on the solar farm at the heart of the case: NextEra’s Jeffrey Solar. The case focuses now on whether Jeffrey benefiting from IRA credits means it should’ve gotten reviewed under the National Environmental Policy Act.
- Perhaps surprisingly to some, the Trump Justice Department argued against these NEPA reviews – a posture that jibes with the administration’s approach to streamlining the overall environmental analysis process but works in favor of companies using IRA credits.
- In a ruling that came down on Tuesday, District Judge Holly Teeter ruled the landowners lacked standing to sue because “there is a mismatch between their environmental concerns tied to construction of the Jeffrey Solar Project and the tax credits and regulations,” and they did not “plausibly allege the substantial federal control and responsibility necessary to trigger NEPA review.”
- “Plaintiffs’ claims, arguments, and requested relief have been difficult to analyze,” Teeter wrote in her opinion. “They are trying to use the procedural requirements of NEPA as a roadblock because they do not like what Congress has chosen to incentivize and what regulations Jackson County is considering. But those challenges must be made to the legislative branch, not to the judiciary.”
2. Portage County, Wisconsin – The largest solar project in the Badger State is now one step closer to construction after settling with environmentalists concerned about impacts to the Greater Prairie Chicken, an imperiled bird species beloved in wildlife conservation circles.
- On Monday, the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation withdrew a legal appeal against construction of Doral Renewables’ Vista Sands solar project. The organization reportedly reached a deal with Doral that’ll preserve 750 acres for the birds, which require long expanses of open land in order to properly mate.
- Per Doral, this will allow the company to begin construction sometime next year – which may not be quick enough to still qualify for the IRA electricity tax credits that got truncated timelines in Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”
3. Imperial County, California – The board of directors for the agriculture-saturated Imperial Irrigation District in southern California has approved a resolution opposing solar projects on farmland.
- The decision arrives after frustrations with a lack of local benefits from solar, with officials on the board and local residents frustrated about lackluster employment gains and power from new projects mostly going westward to San Diego. There’s also longstanding conflicts in the area around solar and net metering. In other words – it’s not just the farmland.
4. New England – Offshore wind opponents are starting to win big in state negotiations with developers, as officials once committed to the energy sources delay final decisions on maintaining contracts.
- Massachusetts this week delayed decisions to finalize two power purchase agreements with Ocean Winds’ SouthCoast Wind project off its coastline, including a deal that was supposed to also provide power to Rhode Island. Officials are now apparently claiming they’ll come to a decision by the end of this year, but they’ve been kicking the can down the road for months now.
- My view here? I think they’re hoping that litigation around Trump’s executive order targeting offshore wind is resolved before they complete these deals.
5. Barren County, Kentucky – Remember the National Park fighting the solar farm? We may see a resolution to that conflict later this month.
- Landowners who joined the park in opposing the Wood Duck solar farm petitioned the Kentucky Public Service Commission to have a hearing before the state’s Electric Generation and Transmission Siting Board (wow that’s a mouthful!), citing the opposition filed by the national park. Their wish was granted and the hearing will take place Monday, July 15.
- It’s worth remembering that this county has already passed a solar moratorium – this is potentially one of the last projects that may be built here for some time. What’s worth watching? Whether they’ll be allowed to continue in spite of the pause.
6. Washington County, Arkansas – It seems that RES’ efforts to build a wind farm here are leading the county to face calls for a blanket moratorium.
- The push is being led by the grassroots group Concerned Citizens of the Ozarks, who told county officials at a local hearing this week that they want a pause on development in order to study how wind turbines would affect local farm properties.
- It’s worth noting how early in the process RES is – they haven’t received a single permit and expect construction not to begin until 2029 at the earliest. I guess coming to locals early didn’t work out this time.
7. Westchester County, New York – Yet another resort town in New York may be saying “no” to battery storage over fire risks.
- Fire officials in Tarrytown have come out against battery storage facilities and are urging locals to stop a Tesla megapack that town officials say will lower local energy costs.
- I’m going to predict the fire concerns will beat out the affordability arguments here. Usually testimony from fire officials is treated with incredible weight by any town’s leadership, because who wants to overrule fire safety professionals?
- It’s worth stressing however that Westchester County has an above average Heatmap Pro opposition risk score driven largely by the wealth of its inhabitants.
