Rural communities versus wind and solar developments in 2024: States may limit citizen's voices

President Joe Biden came into office promising that he would “end fossil fuels” and usher in a massive expansion in wind and solar on America’s grid. This included his signature Inflation Reduction Act that provided massive subsidies to help bring that vision to reality. Unfortunately for supporters of Biden’s agenda, the industry faced substantial opposition from local communities, and the battles heated up in 2024. 

“There's no doubt that the rural backlash is accelerating. Rural opposition has now become so intense that ‘Big Wind and Big Solar’ are continuing to push measures at the state level that would allow them to Bigfoot local communities,” energy expert Robert Bryce told Just the News. 

Land-use conflicts

The major challenge for wind and solar developers is that these projects take up more land than any other type of generator. According to Chris Martz, a social media influencer and meteorology senior at Millersville University, nuclear power requires 640 acres per gigawatt of energy produced. A gigawatt of power delivered uninterrupted for a full month can power approximately 1,112 homes. A solar farm producing a comparable amount of power, factoring in the intermittency of solar power, requires 24,000 acres, and a comparable wind farm requires 89,600 acres. 

For this reason, wind and solar projects create enormous land use conflicts in the communities where they’re being built. Bryce tracks rejections of renewable energy projects across the U.S. in a database maintained on his website. According to the database, 760 wind and solar projects were rejected through state and local permitting processes since 2013. In 2024 alone, 117 projects were rejected, which includes 39 wind projects and 78 solar projects. 

A study by Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law published in June concluded that local opposition is becoming the primary impediment to the renewable energy industry’s ability to build out wind and solar farms across the country, and now some states are trying to place more siting authority for these energy projects with the state, so local communities won’t be able to stop them. 

Ohio battleground

In this regard, Ohio is unique. A state law passed in 2021 affirms the rights of local communities to reject renewable energy projects. Bryce pointed out that not a single Democrat in the state House or Senate voted in favor of local zoning authorities. But GOP lawmakers passed the bill, and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, signed it into law. 

With so much local control, Ohio has become a hotspot for communities opposing wind and solar projects. In 2024, Licking County Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution in August prohibiting development of large-scale solar and wind projects within five townships. According to Farmers Advance, residents and officials in those communities had requested a ban on solar and wind developments in order to preserve farmland in those areas. No one spoke against the bans at the hearing, Farmers reported. 

The previous February, the Mahoning County Commission voted on a similar ban that impacted 10 townships in Ohio, The Vindicator reported. The previous November, the commissioners had banned large-scale renewable projects in another township, bringing the total to 11. In 2024, according to Bryce’s database, other Ohio communities blocked specific projects, including a solar project in Mount Vernon. 

The growing grassroots opposition to the industrialization of rural Ohio gained the attention of renewable energy proponents in other states. In October, ProPublica partnered with the Floodlight Media — both of which are funded by anti-fossil fuel political advocacy groups — to produce a hit piece on opposition in Knox County, Ohio. 

The piece argues that since some people organizing opposition to solar buildout in the county had previously worked at a company that produces equipment for the natural gas industry, which is the largest employer in the county, then the entire community’s opposition is the product of an effort on the part of oil and gas companies to undermine solar power. 

When Just the News asked Floodlight and ProPublica how this conclusion squares with them directly receiving money from political advocacy groups pushing for an energy transition, representatives of the publications insisted they were insulated from any influence from that funding. 

Nationwide opposition

Other communities also sought to restrict the siting of renewable energy projects. A Woodbury County, Iowa, board unanimously passed the amendments requiring wind turbines to be at least 3,280 feet from and towns, or a distance equal to approximately 5.45 times the height of the turbine.

In Knox County, Nebraska, this summer, zoning regulations regarding wind energy were restricted to increase setback rules from 2,000 feet to 6,600 feet. A wind developer and a dozen landowners filed a federal lawsuit to block the amendments, and the county is asking the court to dismiss the suit. 

Opposition to these projects can involve a large portion of the residents in these communities, and public hearings on the issue can be quite lively. Voters in Harpswell, Maine, in November voted 2,344 to 1,393 to deny authorization of a 25-year, five-acre lease to a solar developer. 

Jackson County, Iowa, residents in October lobbied elected officials for tougher restrictions on setbacks for wind turbines, regular bird fatalities studies, and more. When the county commission approved these requests following three hours of public testimony on the requests, the audience applauded. 

In May, over a hundred residents of Raymond, Mississippi, a town of less than 2,000 people, packed into a “stuffy” library room for a hearing about a 6,000-acre solar farm. The residents, according to Mississippi Today, were concerned about the visual impact of the project on the rural characteristic of the community. The county Planning Commission voted against recommending the projects.

A solar developer in Chochise County, Arizona, sought to build a 75-megawatt solar farm on nearly 600 acres. A 75-megawatt generator running for one hour can power 750,000 100-watt lightbulbs for one hour. In September a county board voted to deny a permit the project required. “Who wants to live next door to a solar farm? This property may be suitable for it, but there are other locations that would be better. We were here first,” one resident told the Herald/Review. 

Limiting local authority

Faced with widespread opposition from local authorities, other states are moving to prevent local decisions from stopping renewable energy in their home districts. California, New York, and Illinois all have laws limiting local authorities’ authority ability to reject projects. In Virginia, the state legislature is considering a proposal that would allow renewable project developers to appeal to state authorities if a local government rejects them. If the state falls behind on meeting its goals for the buildout of renewable energy, Cardinal News reports, a state board’s opinions on large projects could be binding approvals. 

Last year, the State of Michigan passed a law in 2023 that limits the authority of townships and counties for siting wind and solar projects. Initially the law left some room for those local jurisdictions to make decisions, and the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) recently added new requirements. In response, seven counties and 72 townships launched a lawsuit, arguing the MPSC exceeded its authority.

Kevon Martis, a Michigan resident and Lenawee County commissioner who helped organize an initiative to overturn the law, told Just the News that the law has attracted a lot of interest from renewable energy developers looking for prime land where they can build projects without local interference. He said a developer in Palmyra Township wants to build a project on 6,000 acres in a township that has 24,000 acres total. 

“So they want 25% of all prime farm grounds,” he said. He also said that’s just one of several developers looking at building in the township. A wind developer, he said, is looking at building 226 wind turbines across six townships, and there are multiple developers in Lenawee County looking to build projects on 20,000 to 30,000 acres. 

“This law has turned Michigan into the Wild West, and all bets are off. Developers are pouring in from across the country and around the world. Perversely, a number of them are fossil fuel companies all aggressively seeking to exploit this law,” Martis said. 

Community fervor 

The initiative to overturn the Michigan law failed to collect enough signatures, which Martis said was the result of a lack of funding to hire signature collectors. With several counties and dozens of counties signing onto the lawsuit, there appears to be a lot of opposition to the law. Martis is hoping, too, with a now-Republican controlled legislature, a law will be introduced overturning the 2023 law. 

“This is an issue that will remain on the front burner in Michigan for the foreseeable future, because as these projects roll out, the public outcry gets louder. Being coerced by state level does not dampen the fervor,” Martis said. 

In 2024, that fervor was seen in many communities across the country. President-elect Donald Trump has expressed that he will, in many cases, reverse Biden’s green agenda. If that results in congressional action reversing the Inflation Reduction Act leading to diminished subsidies for the wind and solar industry, community opposition in 2025 could drop as well, simply because there will be fewer projects to oppose. 

It’s also possible that the federal support will continue, and more states will try to adopt laws limiting local controls. It’s going to be an interesting year ahead in energy.