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Good morning and happy Friday,
As the Dispatch “went to press” on Thursday, we were awaiting the outcome of a high-stakes markup by the House Natural Resources Committee of legislation designed to revamp the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a foundational environmental law passed in 1970.
The markup will cover several bills, including one sponsored by Chair Bruce Westerman, the "Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act," which seeks to “narrow the scope of
environmental scrutiny of projects and limit litigation”—something that could have profound impacts for developers.
In other news, a report released this week by Grid Strategies warns that power forecasts for data centers have climbed to unreachable heights, although there may be some double-counting involved.
For its part, the Administration is working to keep the lights on—the DOE has loaned Constellation $1 billion to fund the restart of Three Mile Island, and ordered a Michigan coal plant to stay online for the next 90
days, “citing an energy ’emergency’ that state utility regulators and regional grid operators say does not exist.”
On a lighter note, we occasionally tell you about solar popping up in unusual places. Check out this story about how scientists are using tiny solar-powered trackers mounted on the wings of migrating Monarch butterflies to follow their journeys.
Have a happy Thanksgiving, and we’ll be back on December 5th!
Read on for more.
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Bucking a Ban
Dispatch readers know that local bans on large-scale solar and wind projects are becoming increasingly common. Richland County, Ohio, joined this trend in July 2025 when county commissioners prohibited major renewable energy developments in 11 of the county’s 18 townships—but residents quickly organized a campaign to challenge the decision. Their efforts have now produced the first countywide
referendum in Ohio to reconsider a renewable-energy ban, setting the stage for a high-profile vote in May 2026 and offering a potential template for communities seeking to overturn similar restrictions. Here’s the skinny:
The ban surprised many residents, who said the commission moved forward with little public awareness. Renewable energy supporters organized to oppose the ban, arguing that solar and wind projects bring jobs, new tax revenue, and economic development while supporting property rights and clean energy goals.
Using a process created by Ohio’s 2021 Senate Bill 52—which grants counties broad authority to restrict wind and solar but not other energy sources—the group had just 30 days to collect signatures for a referendum. Ultimately, 3,380 validated signatures were submitted, just 60 more than the required threshold.
Critics protested that many signatures came from residents of cities and villages who are unaffected by the township-level ban, but organizers emphasized that the ban affects the entire county’s economic future.
Richland County’s upcoming referendum marks an unprecedented test of whether voters will uphold or overturn a local renewable-energy ban. The outcome could influence state policy, shape Ohio’s renewable energy landscape, and signal whether grassroots organizing can counter increasingly common restrictions on clean energy development.
⚡️ The Takeaway
Broader tensions. The controversy highlights broader tensions created by SB 52, which gives counties—but not townships—authority to restrict wind and solar projects while preventing similar local limits on fossil-fuel and nuclear generation. Environmental groups say the law creates inconsistent, confusing local oversight and suppresses low-cost renewable energy as electricity prices rise statewide. Meanwhile, opposition to large solar and wind farms continues in nearby counties, reflecting wider debates over farmland use, misinformation, and community identity.
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Building Backlash
A proposed 67-mile transmission line in Maryland—the Piedmont Reliability Project—has become a flashpoint in the expanding conflict between data-center-driven electricity demand and rural landowner resistance. The project, intended to deliver power from Pennsylvania’s Peach Bottom nuclear plant to Northern Virginia’s data centers, sits at the intersection of rising grid needs, property rights battles, political tensions, and the broader backlash against infrastructure that supports the clean energy transition. Here’s what’s happening:
More than 200 farmers and landowners are aggressively opposing the project, refusing land access, filing lawsuits, and seeking political intervention. Many argue the line sacrifices agricultural land to serve Virginia’s booming data-center industry rather than Maryland communities.
Opponents are pushing the PSC to dismiss the project, claiming it cannot meet PJM’s June 2027 reliability deadline and that cheaper alternatives exist. PSEG, the developer, counters that delays don’t eliminate reliability needs and warns that dismissing the case would set a harmful precedent for future infrastructure.
State agencies and PSC staff support the project and argue that dismissing the application would worsen reliability risks and restart the planning process from zero. PJM and legal experts note that rising electricity demand—largely from data centers— means new transmission infrastructure has to be built.
- Local officials have asked President Trump to intervene, but he has remained silent, perhaps torn between his pro-farmer base and his support for data centers and AI-driven economic growth. Democratic Governor Wes Moore has also avoided taking a definitive stance ahead of his reelection campaign.
⚡️ The Takeaway
Rising friction, rising stakes. The Piedmont Reliability Project encapsulates the growing political, legal, and social tensions surrounding the development of critical energy infrastructure in rural America. As clean energy and transmission developers know all too well, local opposition, contested land access, and politicized decision-making can significantly delay or jeopardize projects. As electricity demand from data centers accelerates, the stakes around transmission siting, community engagement, and regulatory strategy will only grow higher.
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Rogue Devices: 50+ House Republicans ask Commerce to halt Chinese solar inverter imports
Tricky: Democrats’ new affordability message is complicating climate policy
Seismic Shift: Wright overhauls DOE, reflecting shift in US energy priorities
Farm-Friendly: Solar provides predictable income stream for farms
Carolina Rising: First Solar to open another US factory. It credits Trump and Hounen Solar to open second solar panel assembly plant in South
Carolina
Ecology Is Messy: New study calls for higher environmental impact evaluation on floating solar
Crystal Ball: How AI is powering a new era in utility-scale solar forecasting
Ten Months In: Federal judge asks if Administration pause on offshore wind has an end date
Ticking Clock: Congress races to shore up minerals as China deal nears
Bottlenecks: Supply-chain delays, rising equipment prices threaten electricity grid
Incoming! PJM is paralyzed by its data center dilemma
Thinkin’ Abouddit: North Dakota utility regulators to consider state’s first-ever battery storage sites
Pony Up: Missouri to charge data centers new costs for electricity use
By Jupiter: Peak Energy deal marks progress for sodium-ion batteries in US
High Cost, High Risk: Cost-conscious utilities resist push for nuclear revival
Small World: Next-generation nuclear reactors will be smaller, safer, Pa. House Energy Committee hears
Power to the People: Can Mamdani supercharge New York’s clean energy revolution?
Backsliding: One key state remains in limbo as several others retreat on climate and clean energy policies and RGGI exit ends Pennsylvania’s only
major climate policy
Tech-Driven: Sortera raises $45M for recycling tech as US demands low-carbon aluminum
Advanced Energy: Tom Steyer enters California governor's race
Double Standard: Green groups sue FERC over its approval of SPP’s capacity accreditation plan and Lawsuit targets FERC approval of SPP capacity
evaluation, citing bias against solar
Opinion: How renewable energy producers can navigate FERC’s new interconnection rules
Nation-Leading: Newsom touts California's record battery energy gains at U.N. climate conference
SEIA: Over 13 GW, or half of planned Texas solar and storage, at risk to fail to come online next year
NERC: Spread of data centers raises risk of winter outages, grid monitor warns and Energy supply in parts of US not enough for extreme winter
conditions, report finds and Most regions have adequate winter supply, but tight reserves raise risk during extreme cold and Winter peak demand is rising faster than resource additions
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Super Hot
The Cascade Range is a prominent feature of the US West Coast, extending from southern British Columbia to Northern California. It’s also seismically active and home to one of America’s most dangerous volcanoes-–the Newberry Volcano in Oregon.
Danger notwithstanding, engineers are developing what may become the world’s hottest geothermal power plant at the site. Led by start-up Mazama Energy, the project has already accessed rock that registers at a sizzling 629°F, and will begin selling electricity next year.
The team’s larger goal is to reach temperatures above 750°F and become the first to generate power from “superhot rock.” At these extreme conditions, water becomes supercritical—behaving like both a liquid and a gas—which allows a single well to produce five to ten times more energy than typical geothermal wells. This leap could dramatically reduce drilling costs and unlock vast new geothermal resources.
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The Newberry project blends two transformative trends: enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), which inject water into hot dry rock using fracking-inspired techniques, and superhot geothermal, which taps extraordinarily high temperatures previously considered unreachable. EGS could expand geothermal beyond rare natural steam fields, while superhot conditions promise abundant, always-on, low-carbon power.
The International Energy Agency estimates geothermal could rise from today’s <1% of global electricity to 8% by 2050, and superhot geothermal resources could theoretically generate 150 times current global demand. However, drilling into 750°F rock introduces new engineering hurdles. Electronics fail in extreme heat, standard casings degrade under thermal cycling, and induced seismicity remains a concern. Mazama has experimented with cooling drills using liquid CO₂ and has so far maintained well stability, but scaling up will test the durability of equipment and materials.
The Newberry geothermal project is the first commercial attempt to combine EGS with superhot rock at a hazardous U.S. volcano, potentially delivering baseload clean energy at costs comparable to natural gas or solar. If successful, it could prove that ultra-deep, high-temperature geothermal is viable, triggering a wave of investment and global deployment.
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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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