US counties are blocking the future of renewable energy by USA Today

USA TODAY’s analysis began in 2022 with data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Both track laws governing solar and wind energy at the county and municipality level.

We built on that with more than a year’s worth of research tracking restrictions on wind and solar using federal data, local government filings and media reports from across the country.

We used this to create a database of rules and zoning restrictions for counties, plus some municipalities. We also indexed those by the date they began, stretching from the first we found, in 2000, through the end of 2023.

After interviews with more than 45 experts, we set standards for what kinds of rules and conditions constituted blocks to new, utility-scale (over 5 megawatts) wind and solar projects. These fell into four categories: outright bans, moratoriums, significance impediments and other conditions that made projects difficult to permit.