Policy reform is key for states to unlock the potential of renewable energy

What’s the driving force behind community opposition to renewable energy projects, and what can be done to help all stakeholders play together nicely? A new whitepaper, authored by the Siting Solutions Project in partnership with David E. Adelman, Harry Reasoner Regents Chair in Law at The University of Texas at Austin School of Law, argues that pushback against clean energy goes beyond not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) attitudes and can be attributed to structural policy failures. A Win-Win Solution for Clean Energy Siting identifies constitutional constraints that prevent local governments from negotiating meaningful agreements with developers, and inadequate engagement processes that leave residents feeling excluded from decisions that affect their lives. The result? A binary choice—take it or leave it—and communities are increasingly choosing to leave it. Columbia University’s Sabin Center identified 498 contested projects across 49 states in 2025, a 32% increase over the prior year. Overcoming Roadblocks Restrictive local zoning ordinances have become the most prevalent and pesky impediment to clean energy development. 24% of local governments have adopted ordinances, moratoria, or bans that arbitrarily prevent the development of renewable energy projects, according to nonpartisan climate policy organization Clean Tomorrow. Developers rank restrictive local zoning ordinances among the top three challenges to building clean energy projects, alongside long interconnection queues and community opposition. Although truly measuring community sentiment is challenging, Nelson Falkenburg, siting policy manager at Clean Tomorrow and leader of the Siting Solutions Project, says most social science research suggests that improvements in the siting and permitting process could reduce community opposition by enhancing engagement and transparency. He recommends that development agreement laws specifically include: - Early notice to communities, well before permit applications are finalized - Public hearings that are accessible and designed for representative participation - Disclosure requirements covering project design, impacts, and benefits - Mechanisms for communities to influence the terms of an agreement State Policy to the Rescue The authors of the white paper contend that tools to fix the sentiment problem already exist. The authors point out three state-level policy mechanisms that can change the conditions under which renewable projects are proposed, negotiated, and permitted: - Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs): Stable, flexible payments that make the economic benefits of clean energy projects visible and tangible to local communities - Development Agreements: Contractual frameworks that give developers early regulatory certainty in exchange for negotiated community benefits — enabling earlier, more meaningful engagement - The Safety Net Model: A hybrid siting approach that preserves local permitting as the default while providing a state-level backstop — Michigan’s 2023 siting law is a leading example “The most impact would come from the combination of all three policy mechanisms. But, given the relative simplicity of codifying Development Agreements, compared to PILOTs or a Safety Net approach, codifying Development Agreements would be the best strategy in the short-term,” recommended Falkenburg. “Michigan’s PA 233 is a great example of the Safety Net model in practice. It incentivizes local siting and permitting while providing a backstop at the state Public Service Commission (MPSC) to prevent arbitrary local restrictions and denials. The local permitting process is incentivized through a $5,000 per MW grant paid from a state/federal fund,” Falkenburg explained to Factor This. “The law also establishes standards for a compatible renewable energy ordinance, which local governments are encouraged to adopt. And there’s flexibility for developers and local governments to agree to a workable renewable energy ordinance even if it doesn’t entirely align with the state standards. The state process is set up as a last resort with a high bar to entry if a local government denies a permit, does not have a compatible ordinance, or does not have zoning. Since PA 233 passed in 2023, Michigan has permitted 6 GW of renewable energy at the local level, with another 1.6 GW in the queue at MPSC.” Until more states adopt policies that better promote community engagement, pushback against solar, wind, and battery energy storage is likely to continue. “New land use decisions are inherently controversial for any community. Solar, wind, and battery energy storage specifically continue to be vilified despite being the cheapest and fastest energy resources to bring to the grid,” lamented Falkenberg. “Without the kind of interventions we’ve described here, which improve the negotiating space for local governments and developers while yielding better benefits for communities and certainty for local governments, these frictions will only worsen.” To learn more, download the full white paper here.