Takeaways from USA TODAY’s investigation of clean-energy opposition

America’s renewable energy buildout is facing resistance, not just in Washington but in county commission meetings across the country. A new USA TODAY investigation revealed that a growing number of local governments are restricting or outright blocking large-scale wind and solar projects. 

These restrictions come in the shape of bans, permitting requirements that make projects economically unfeasible or moratoriums that may or may not eventually expire. All the while, changing economics and improved technology have made wind and solar cheaper than natural gas and far cheaper than coal.  

USA TODAY’s exclusive investigation identified at least 755 counties with regulatory mechanisms that render it difficult or impossible to develop large-scale wind or solar projects. The investigation relied on data collected by USA TODAY reporters for 3,142 counties covering all 50 states through official announcements, county board meetings, news reports, emails and phone calls to public offices. Read our methodology here.

Here are the main takeaways from the USA TODAY investigation

About a quarter of the U.S. counties have created restrictive ordinances for building solar or wind farms. These anti-wind and solar blockages have grown rapidly in recent years.  Most of the ordinances target wind projects. However, solar energy developments are now facing faster-growing resistance, as more U.S. counties adopt measures that limit or discourage new installations.  

Overall, at least 645 counties have bans, impediments or moratoriums in place for wind developments, while 261 counties have these ordinances for solar development. Several have both. Most of these ordinances are in counties that don’t have any operational solar or wind projects in their jurisdiction.

Trump administration’s federal land restriction looms large

Because of restrictions, about 38% of the country’s land is no longer feasible or economically reasonable for wind development. When it comes to solar, developers won’t be able to develop on 33% of the country’s acreage. USA TODAY calculated that number by considering the impact of local ordinances and the Trump administration’s restriction on federal land.   

Take, Nevada, for example. Of its 17 counties, USA TODAY identified four in which local restrictions on solar and wind would make it hard to develop. There would still have been plenty of flat land for developers to build solar projects. But since the federal government owns large swaths of Nevada’s acres, its restrictions would leave less than 15% of the state open for renewable development, according to USA TODAY’s calculations.   

Anti-solar sentiment is picking up steam  

There are more counties with prohibitive measures on wind farms than counties that have adopted utility-scale projects. A total of 645 counties have wind blocking measures in place, while a USA TODAY analysis of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s generator inventory data showed that about 470 counties are home to a wind plant with greater than 5 megawatts capacity, a measure for utility-scale used in these analyses.  The opposition has had an effect: Wind development grew from the 2000s through 2012, but flattened after that. By 2020, federal inventory stats show that it started to slump, with fewer generators coming online every year.

The anti-wind sentiment that has dominated local debates appears to have broadened to include solar energy. Once met with only mild pushback, solar projects are now increasingly entangled in the same policy fights that have long stalled wind development across the country. But while solar ordinances have grown rapidly, new counties are still allowing solar to be built. More than one in four U.S. counties had solar plants of 5 megawatts or above operational as of December 2025.  

Solar and wind continue to expand

President Donald Trump is among the most vocal critics of renewable energy. Yet solar and wind have posted significant gains since he first won the White House in 2016, rising from around 6.5% of the country’s electricity generation to 18% in 2025, despite his attacks on the industry and regulatory rollbacks. The U.S Energy Information Administration projects that share will reach 21% by 2027.  

The growth has been widespread. Wind and solar increased their shares faster than all other sources in at least 23 states between 2016 and 2025.

Gas still dominates the national mix, but its share has been declining as wind and solar expand. Utility-scale solar is now the fastest-growing source of electricity in the U.S., a sign that the transition underway may be difficult to reverse.

Solar and wind energy are now cheaper to build  

Experts say that in the past decade, the market dynamics for renewable energy have dramatically changed. In its 2025 report, Lazard, a financial advisory firm, estimated that the cost to build, operate, fuel and maintain a plant has decreased by 55% for wind and 84% for solar since 2009. USA TODAY reporting has shown that bringing solar or wind developments might cause political tension and strain community ties. Still, these buildouts have boosted local economies, especially in rural areas.  

Wind and solar make economic sense on the supply side, too, industry experts say. In light of growing energy use, solar and wind can help quench that demand. Both can be built faster than gas plants, which face years-long delays from turbine backlogs.

How many people live near solar and wind plants

There is plenty of misinformation to go around about renewable energy, particularly wind energy. Common complaints include that turbines are ugly and ruin rural settings, hurt property values, endanger birds, and make noise.  

USA TODAY looked at each one of these in this piece.

Despite these complaints, most people don’t live close enough to turbines to experience them.

A USA TODAY analysis assessed the proximity of populations to these wind and solar projects and concluded that roughly 0.7% of the U.S. population lives within five miles of a wind project with 10 or more turbines. Since solar projects aren’t visible from afar, we used a different radius for solar exposure, showing that roughly 0.6% of the population lives within a one-mile radius of a solar project of 5-megawatt capacity or over. 

USA TODAY’s Ignacio Calderon contributed data analysis.

Ramon Padilla, Karina Zaiets, Stephen J. Beard, Carlie Procell, Veronica Bravo, Josh Susong, Suhail Bhat, Javier Zarracina and Shawn J. Sullivan contributed graphics and data visualizations.

For a state-by-state analysis of wind and solar regulation across America, click here.