The Interior Department’s directives on wind and solar projects have halted energy development across Nevada, Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo complained this week to Secretary Doug Burgum — the latest sign that the Trump administration’s moves to hamstring renewable power are causing friction with political allies.
“[M]y office is hearing that solar projects deep in the project pipeline have been frozen,” Lombardo wrote in a Monday letter to the secretary. He lamented that Interior’s July 15 memo requiring the secretary’s sign-off on 69 tasks for wind and solar development has created so much confusion that it threatens Nevada’s ability to add power to the grid and meet energy needs.
“Solar energy development on federal land fuels Nevada’s economy,” Lombardo added. But Burgum’s memo, he said, “has not only stopped solar development on federal lands in Nevada, but also on private land where federal approvals such as transmission line rights of way are required.”
The governor also expressed concern that the restrictions will impede President Donald Trump’s goals of boosting mining of critical minerals and attracting investments in data centers.
