The trade group says those stalled projects represent enough clean energy to power 16 million homes — electricity that may never reach the grid if current policies continue.
Ben Norris, senior director of regulatory affairs at SEIA, said the slowdown could ripple across Western economies.
“It’s going to impact jobs,” Norris said. “And has an outsized impact in a state like Nevada, where you have so many good solar resources and so many planned solar facilities.”
Nationwide, 18 states have more than half of their planned power capacity at risk of being blocked, including Nevada (94%), Arizona (72%), Montana (54%), and Colorado (52%). Elsewhere in the Mountain West, new capacity is also threatened in Utah (42%), Wyoming (36%), and New Mexico (19%). Idaho is the only state in the region not expected to be affected.
Norris said the administration has slowed federal permitting for large-scale solar and battery projects, blocked grid improvements, and tilted energy policy toward fossil fuels — all while electricity demand is surging from AI data centers and electric vehicles.
SEIA is urging federal agencies to speed up permitting and restore incentives that would keep renewable projects on track. The group argues that doing so would strengthen grid reliability, create thousands of jobs, and keep power costs in check.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between KUNR, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
