A letter singed by 143 prominent solar companies in the United States has been sent to the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, urging congressional leaders to make reforms to permitting.
President Trump’s executive actions this year have led to “near complete moratorium on permitting for solar projects,” said the letter.
As of July, per a Department of Interior (DOI) memo, solar projects seeking leases, rights-of-way, construction and operation plans, grants, consultations and biological opinions are subject to approval by Trump-appointed Interior head Doug Burgum’s office.
The review affects permits that occur under any DOI agency for projects on federal lands and private lands; permits from non-DOI federal agencies where the DOI has a consultative role; and projects on private lands that utilize DOI resources.
“This extends well beyond projects on public lands,” said the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). “Many solar and storage projects located partially or entirely on private property are now being entangled in a myriad of federal reviews.”
SEIA estimates that over 500 projects in the development pipeline across the country are in danger of delays or cancellation as a result of political attacks, based on its analysis of data from the Energy Information Administration.
(Read: “Trump: ‘We will not approve wind or farmer destroying solar’)
The effected projects total nearly 116 GW of capacity, or about half of all planned power capacity additions nationwide through 2030.
“This blockade is undermining American energy security, driving up costs for families and businesses, and exacerbating the ‘energy emergency’ that the Trump administration itself declared earlier this year,” said SEIA in a press statement.
SEIA said federal obstruction erodes private property rights and local decision-making, inserting Washington bureaucrats into projects that landowners and communities want to host. It poses a risk to landowners, farmers, ranchers, and private investors that even if your project complies with regulations the federal government can still pull the plug, said SEIA.
Eighteen states have over 50% of their planned electricity capacity at risk of being blocked. Many of these states, including Texas, Virginia, Arizona, and Nevada, are expected to lead the country in energy-intensive data center growth. The report from SEIA tracks planned capacity and what is at risk state-by-state on a dashboard here.
“We urge Congress to work with the Department of the Interior to address the unduly discriminatory and unprecedented government overreach, by revoking the July 15th memo,” said the signees of the letter.
Find the letter addressed to U.S. Congressional leaders and signed by over 140 solar businesses here.
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