The Bureau of Land Management claims that Trump’s pause on solar energy permitting is no longer in effect — though no permits have yet come of it.
President Trump paused permitting for solar as well as wind projects for 60 days via executive order on his first day in office. The expiration date on that pause was technically last Friday, and in an exclusive statement to Heatmap, BLM spokesperson Brian Hires said “there is currently no freeze on processing renewable applications for solar” or “making authorization decisions” on projects.
Hires also said all transmission for wind projects is now allowed to advance through federal permitting, a statement that arrives after the agency indicated in emails I obtained that it may soon approve wires for a wind project in Wyoming sited on private land. BLM also approved a transmission project for a solar farm earlier this month, a decision it made public with a press release that also declared solar was part of the president’s “energy dominance” agenda.
This might sound like good news. But I’m going to wait and see before declaring the permitting pause for solar officially dead because we’ve yet to see a solar farm on federal lands permitted under Trump 2.0.
As we reported in February, a leaked industry memo outlined how Trump’s permitting freeze led to chaos and delays for solar energy developers who found that agencies on the fringes of the process — such as the Army Corps of Engineers — were suddenly dragging their feet on crucial permits. Even after the Army Corps told me it was no longer delaying solar permits, I heard conflicting tales from developers, who said there was a disconnect between the public line and government inaction behind the scenes.
A D.C. solar industry lobbyist who requested anonymity to speak candidly on the matter said they’ve yet to receive any clarity on whether the pause has actually been lifted and whether permits will actually be issued now. The source said they’ve heard little from state BLM offices or staff in Washington about what projects may be approved, and that the Interior Department — which oversees BLM — has been “weirdly opaque” with solar developers so far in Trump’s term.
“We can’t get straight answers,” the lobbyist said.
BLM told me the pause is still in effect for wind projects sited on federal lands and in federal waters, pending completion of a comprehensive government review of the wind sector’s environmental and national security implications. There’s been no timetable or deadline set for finishing that review, which has so far been conducted in secret. The agency did not provide me with any information on that study.
