The U.S. saw a 14 percent increase in contested renewable projects, 9.8 GW in cancellations in 2025

A new report from Columbia Law School's Sabin Center finds that opposition to renewable energy projects across the country kept growing in 2025, though at a slower pace than before. Local and state governments added 70 new restrictions on solar and wind projects this year, down from 112 in 2024 and 165 in 2023. In total, there are now 865 local restrictions and 23 state-level actions across 19 states.

The report also tracked 567 contested renewable projects going back to 2004, including 322 with a solar component and 217 with wind. Of those, about 40 percent have been canceled outright. In 2025 alone, 22 projects were canceled, totaling nearly 9.8 gigawatts of capacity — by far the most ever canceled in a single year. The biggest was the 6.2 gigawatt Esmeralda 7 Solar Project in Nevada, canceled by the federal Bureau of Land Management in October. New York and Virginia had the most contested projects, followed by California, Michigan and Ohio. Only New Mexico and New Jersey had no state or local restrictions on record.

For homeowners, this mostly matters as a sign of how uneven the renewable energy landscape has become depending on where you live. Some states, like Ohio and Michigan, have passed laws letting counties block large wind or solar projects, while others, like Michigan and Minnesota, have laws letting state agencies override local objections. If you're weighing rooftop solar or other home energy upgrades, this report is about big utility-scale projects rather than home systems, but it reflects the same patchwork of state rules that can affect incentives and grid conditions where you live.