The Solar Energy Industries Association is seeking to meet with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to discuss his agency’s moves to restrict permit approvals for renewable energy, arguing the actions constitute a ban on new solar projects and those already under construction.
The request reflects growing angst among renewable industry advocates that the Trump administration is hindering development of the fastest-growing energy sources during a period of rising power demand that is already driving up electricity rates.
In a letter obtained exclusively by POLITICO, SEIA President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper says that since the enactment of the GOP’s budget law in July, Interior has taken at least six actions that single out solar energy projects for “discriminatory permitting treatment,” collectively touching nearly 70 individual permitting actions.
Hopper said the group, which represents the solar and energy storage industries, has heard from many member companies that projects being developed entirely on private lands are also affected, not just those on Interior-managed federal land.
