‘Unnecessary red tape’ is derailing Nevada’s solar industry, letter argues

Directives from the Trump administration have pushed the country’s solar and wind industries to a screeching halt, worrying Nevada’s congressional leaders.

In a letter dated Monday, the state’s Democratic leaders in Congress called attention to a July 15 memo from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum — one that they feel is “paralyzing hundreds of billions of dollars in investment, state and local tax revenue, and thousands of high-paying jobs.”

The memo requires Burgum to sign off on every step of the federal permitting process for solar and wind projects. In practice, that has meant no solar or wind project in any state has received permits since the new guidance, according to Monday’s letter.

“DOI’s July 15th memo does not ‘unleash energy dominance;’ it weaponizes the permitting process against it,” Nevada’s delegation wrote in the letter. “If the Department is serious about an all-of-the-above energy strategy, it must ensure that both traditional and renewable energy resources can be developed efficiently and responsibly.”

Monday’s letter was signed by Reps. Steven Horsford, Dina Titus and Susie Lee, as well as Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen. Nevada’s sole Republican in Congress, Rep. Mark Amodei of Northern Nevada, did not sign the letter.

Carrie Kwarcinski, Amodei’s spokeswoman, said in a statement that his office has been “working directly with the Department of Interior on specific projects as opposed to publishing a letter.”

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, raised his own issues with the memo in an August letter to Burgum, saying that solar projects deep in the permitting process were “frozen” with no path forward.

An administration’s war on renewables

President Donald Trump has issued vague directives over social media on renewable energy since taking office this year.

In August, the president claimed without evidence that states that rely on wind and solar have experienced higher energy costs. Trump added that his administration “will not approve wind or farmer destroying Solar,” though it’s remained unclear if that is the official policy of the Interior Department.

Monday’s letter comes 10 days after the Bureau of Land Management canceled the review of Nevada’s largest proposed solar project that would have rivaled the size of the city of Las Vegas. That larger effort, which included seven linked solar farms in Esmeralda County, may proceed with individual permitting processes for each solar project.

In a Monday statement, the Interior Department said, “Congressional Democrats should spend less time writing letters and more time funding the government,” referencing the ongoing federal government shutdown that is entering its fourth week.

A spokesperson defended the secretary’s memo in an August statement, when asked to respond to Lombardo’s related letter.

“This policy strengthens accountability, prevents misuse of taxpayer-funded subsidies and upholds our commitment to restoring balance in energy development,” Interior Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Peace said at the time.

‘Weaponizes the federal bureaucracy’

In Nevada, hampering the solar industry has tangible consequences, according to Democrats in the congressional delegation.

State law requires that half of the energy sold to Nevadans must come from renewables by 2030.

To meet the growing energy demands of data centers and the mining industry that total 10 gigawatts over the next decade, NV Energy expects over 130,000 megawatts of new generation capacity to be available by 2030.

Nevada’s solar industry represents about 30,000 jobs, which the letter says is more jobs per capita than any other industry in the state. It also has attracted over $13.3 billion in investments.

Horsford, whose massive district includes North Las Vegas, Mesquite and Tonopah, said the current policies of the Interior Department are antithetical to the Trump administration’s stated goals of lowering energy costs and establishing so-called energy dominance.

“Secretary Burgum’s memo weaponizes the federal bureaucracy to hand pick winners and losers in energy production at a time when our competitors are passing us by with an ‘all-of-the-above’ approach,” Horsford said in a Monday statement. “Not only does this set our country back — it costs Nevadans jobs, raises our energy bills, risks our grid reliability and keeps us tethered to more expensive energy sources of the past.”

Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.

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