An Idaho county banned renewables. It’s having second thoughts.

A rural Idaho county's fight over solar and wind power shows how communities are rethinking earlier bans on renewable energy. Bannock County banned utility-scale solar and wind development in 2024 after residents worried about losing farmland and changing the look of their valley. Now the county commission is considering a new ordinance that would allow solar, wind, and nuclear projects, with a vote expected this fall. The reversal reflects Idaho's growing power needs — the state's largest utility expects electricity demand to rise sharply by 2030 — along with the tax revenue and lease payments that renewable projects can bring to struggling rural areas.

The debate splits the county. Some landowners want the right to lease their land to solar developers for income that could help sustain family farms hurt by drought. Others argue solar developments would industrialize farmland and worry about risks like battery fires, pushing instead for nuclear power, which polls show most county residents favor. The new draft ordinance includes rules developers would have to follow, such as posting bonds for eventual removal of equipment and helping local fire departments prepare for battery-related emergencies.

For homeowners elsewhere, this story is a reminder that local zoning and county ordinances — not just state or federal policy — often decide whether solar and wind farms get built nearby, which can affect regional power supply, land use, and local tax bases. Nationally, about one in four counties now have some kind of restriction on renewable energy development, most of them rural, so the tension playing out in Bannock County is not unique.