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Good morning and happy Friday,
Fasten your seatbelts, because we’ve got lots of clean energy news for you this week.
SEIA and ACP both released quarterly reports: the Solar Market Insight Report found that the U.S. installed 11.7 GW of solar in Q3 alone, and the Clean Power Quarterly Market Report says solar and storage represent 91% of clean power additions for the quarter.
The Clean Energy Buyers Association states that its members are doing their part, having contracted for 20.4 GW of clean energy so far this year.
Against this backdrop, new data from Cleanview says that nearly 2,000 power projects, or 266 GW of new generation capacity, have been canceled in the U.S. since the start of 2025; and a Reuters review finds that “thousands of megawatts of clean power capacity [are] in limbo at a time of soaring demand for electricity” (more on this in Radar, below).
Meanwhile, concerns about security threats from Chinese inverters continue; on a more positive note, “Grid operators don’t have to fear losing their control room jobs to artificial intelligence — at least not yet,” after EPRI tested AI’s ability to handle grid issues and found it wanting.
Read on for more.
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Strength in Numbers
The Longspur Wind Project in Morton County, ND is a case study of how clean energy projects can advance in areas increasingly skeptical of development. Initially headed toward rejection, the 200 MW project ultimately secured key local permits after the developer, Allete, mounted an intensive grassroots-style campaign, demonstrating how community engagement can overcome vocal minority opposition. Here’s an overview of what happened:
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North Dakota has historically been wind-friendly, but some counties have adopted setbacks and moratoria in response to cultural and political pressure. Longspur is in a county that already hosts multiple wind farms, but at its first zoning hearing, only opponents spoke, voicing their frustration with “overcrowding.”
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Local officials interpreted the silence of supporters as broad community agreement with the opposition, and zoning officials voted to reject the project. Allete shifted gears and treated the process like a local election: company representatives went door to door, urging supportive landowners – especially those hosting turbines – to attend the county commission meeting and speak.
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Supporters showed up in force, outnumbering opponents, and stressed property rights, economic benefits, and the compatibility of wind with local agriculture. Their presence directly influenced county commissioners and helped officials realize opposition was not representative of the community.
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Messaging emphasized Longspur’s economic contributions: union construction jobs, tax revenue, and steady landowner payments. The project also leverages existing transmission and substation infrastructure, reducing costs and impacts. Public meetings and early communication helped rebuild trust and demonstrate regulatory readiness.
⚡️ The Takeaway
It all comes down to turnout. Longspur’s turnaround illustrates a critical lesson: a small but vocal minority can dominate hearings unless supporters are mobilized. For developers, the Longspur case shows the importance of proactive outreach, visible landowner support, education on project benefits, and treating permitting as a turnout-driven process. In communities wary of change, engagement is often the deciding factor. |
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An Unsustainable Blockade
Across the U.S. solar industry, frustration is mounting over a Department of the Interior policy that companies say has effectively frozen the permitting of most large-scale solar and energy storage projects. Last week, a coalition of 143 solar companies, backed by SEIA, sent a letter to Congress pressing them to intervene and warning that the policy represents a nearly complete moratorium on solar development at a time of growing electricity demand and record project pipelines. Here’s a closer look:
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A July DOI memo calls for “elevated review” of nearly all solar and wind projects on federal lands, requiring that almost all decisions – from basic environmental surveys to final approvals – receive personal sign-off from senior Interior officials. Companies argue this creates an unprecedented procedural bottleneck, effectively stopping federal permitting not only on public lands but also on many private-land projects where the DOI plays a consultative role.
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A SEIA analysis last month estimated that more than 500 solar and storage projects, representing about 116 GW, are delayed or at risk of cancellation. The freeze affects projects on federal, state, and private land alike, with many entangled in multi-agency reviews. Reporting also shows that virtually no new solar projects have been permitted since July, reinforcing the industry’s claims of a de facto moratorium.
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Developers, utilities, and state officials warn that the permitting blockade is undermining U.S. energy security, risking investment, and compromising the ability of states to meet demand growth – especially from data centers. Because the policy applies even when projects comply with existing regulations, industry leaders say it erodes private-property rights and local decision-making.
⚡️ The Takeaway
Selective obstruction. Outgoing SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper says, “The current status of this blockade is unsustainable.” The 143-company letter urges Congress to revoke the DOI memo and restore “permit certainty.” SEIA emphasizes that permitting reform is needed, but not a version that discriminates against solar while fast-tracking fossil fuels. Solar companies and trade groups argue that without immediate congressional action, the DOI’s policy will continue to stall clean-energy deployment, threaten billions in investment, and jeopardize grid reliability. They insist that fair, predictable permitting – not selective obstruction – is essential to meeting rising national energy needs.
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“Now Do It in Space”
Regular Dispatch readers know we’re fans of space-based solar power, and Heatmap reports that the technology is moving closer to commercial reality with the emergence of Overview Energy, a startup building satellites that beam power to Earth using high-efficiency laser systems.
The company, which this week dramatically exited stealth mode by “successfully transmitting power from a moving aircraft to a ground receiver 3 miles below,” aims to enable solar farms to produce power around the clock, even at night or during cloudy periods. Its satellites would transmit near-infrared laser energy to receivers placed in existing utility-scale solar installations, allowing operators to “import sunlight” from orbit.
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A core innovation is what CEO Marc Berte calls “geographic untethering.” Because orbiting satellites can redirect their beams anywhere on Earth, they can send power to whichever region is experiencing peak demand. A satellite might energize California before sunrise, then pivot to Europe or North Africa during their evening peak, and back again as time zones shift. This flexibility is central to Overview’s target cost of $60-$100 per megawatt-hour by 2035, when the company hopes to have gigawatt-scale systems online.
Overview recently demonstrated a key technical milestone: beaming high power from a moving aircraft to a ground receiver three miles below — the first test of its kind. The company claims the same tracking, mirrors, and lasers will apply to transmissions from geostationary orbit 22,000 miles away.
Its long-term vision is bold: providing 10-20% of global electricity by 2050. To get there, Overview plans megawatt-scale demonstrations by 2030 and gigawatt deployments by the mid-2030s, with the first SpaceX launch scheduled for 2028. Achieving this will require mass-manufacturing thousand-satellite constellations far larger than anything currently in orbit, but the company believes its foldable, shipping-container-sized designs make this feasible.
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Thanks for diving into the Developer Dispatch with us.
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Building American power requires a powerful team. |
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