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Policy Watch

Hearings Galore, Youngkin’s Slow Bore

This week’s top news around renewable energy policy.

Glenn Youngkin and solar farms.
Heatmap Illustration / Getty Images

1. Youngkin sides with locals – Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin this week said at his State of the State address that he would oppose efforts to “end local control of solar project siting” – indicating he will fiercely challenge efforts by some state policymakers to resolve challenges posed by town and county restrictions on renewables by overriding them.

  • “Local communities must be able to exercise their rights with regards to land use,” Youngkin said, adding a comparison that tied solar’s growth to the data center boom in the state. “Different communities will make different decisions on data centers but these must be their decisions.”
  • As we previously explained, solar developers are seeking changes to state policy in order to overrule local restrictions and draft recommendations from a Virginia commission on electricity called for the creation of an independent body to adjudicate these objections.

2. More like Hearing Watch – We’re starting to learn how Trump’s most significant nominees may run federal energy and climate agencies. Thank you, senatorial advise and consent process!

  • Most crucially, we heard from Energy Secretary-in-waiting Chris Wright who yesterday offered largely predictable pro-business comments that leave open the possibility Trump 2.0 will not mean an end to all federal support for the energy transition.
  • But there was one moment that stood out to me personally: Wright said he would “immediately engage” on a report released by DOE’s inspector general that called for a halt to operations of the Loan Programs Office, a key vehicle for supporting decarbonization projects across the country. It’s unclear how a pause would impact any and all conditional loan commitments issued by the Biden administration.

3. Using land for data – One of Biden’s final days this week was spent opening up federal lands for constructing data centers in order to give the U.S. a leg up in developing artificial intelligence.

  • The proposal tries to encourage data center companies to use renewable energy sources and instructs federal regulators to select ideal sites for constructing renewable projects close to or collocated with proposed or completed data centers.
  • It’s possible that this entire thing is ripped up on Day 1 of Trump 2.0 and I’m skeptical this will have much sway on the pace of developing either renewables or data centers. But kudos for trying.

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Spotlight

A Wave of Anti-Renewables Bills Hits State Legislatures

It’s not just Trump.

Texas and Oklahoma
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

State legislatures are now a crucial battleground for the future of renewable energy, as Republican lawmakers seek massive restrictions and punitive measures on new solar and wind projects.

Once a hyperlocal affair, the campaign to curtail renewable energy development now includes state-wide setbacks, regulations, and taxes curtailing wind and solar power. As we previously reported, Oklahoma is one of those states – and may as soon as this year enact mandatory setback requirements on wind power facilities, despite getting nearly half its electricity from wind farms. According to a Heatmap Pro analysis, these rules would affect 65 of Oklahoma’s 77 counties.

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Q&A

Why Offshore Wind Might Survive in the South

A conversation with Katharine Kollins of the Southeastern Wind Coalition

Katherine Kollins
Heatmap Illustration

This week’s conversation is with Katharine Kollins of the Southeastern Wind Coalition, an advocacy group that supports offshore wind development in the American Southeast. I wanted to talk with Katherine about whether there are any silver linings in the offshore wind space, and to my surprise she actually had one! Here’s to hope springing eternal – and Trump leaving Coastal Virginia intact.

The following conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.

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Renewables Developers Get Sweaty Palms Across America

Here are the week’s top conflicts around clean energy in the U.S.

Map of renewable energy conflicts.
Heatmap Illustration

1. Barnstable County, Massachusetts – The SouthCoast offshore wind project will now be delayed for at least four years, developer Ocean Winds said on Friday, confirming my previous reporting that projects Biden seemed to fully approve were still at risk from Trump.

  • Biden’s Interior Department had said in December the SouthCoast project was “approved.” But according to this federal permitting data clearinghouse, the project still needs clearances from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as well as the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers. We previously reported the Army Corps of Engineers had all but frozen wetlands permitting for wind projects. Jury’s out on whether that has changed.

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