Trump administration cancels major solar project

An enormous solar power project in the Nevada desert that would have been one of the world's largest has been canceled, according to the Interior Department.

The reason for the cancellation was not immediately clear. But the project appeared to be the latest casualty of the Trump administration's efforts to thwart the construction of solar and wind energy projects on millions of acres of public lands, predominantly in the American West.

The project, known as Esmeralda 7, would have comprised a network of solar panels and batteries across 118,000 acres of federally owned land in the Nevada desert northwest of Las Vegas. It was expected to produce up to 6.2 gigawatts of energy, enough to power nearly 2 million homes. The developers of the project included NextEra Energy, one of the country's largest utilities, and Invenergy, a company that builds solar and wind farms as well as natural gas plants and battery storage systems. The Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management quietly updated its webpage on the project's permitting process late Thursday to reflect the cancellation. The webpage did not provide additional information. Alyse Sharpe, a spokesperson for the Interior Department, said in a Friday email that Esmeralda 7 consisted of seven separate solar projects and that the developers could still seek permits for each individual project. But restarting the permitting process, which was already in its late stages, could lead to significant delays. Neil Nissan, a spokesperson for NextEra, said in an email that the utility was "committed" to its portion of the project and would work with the Interior Department. The cancellation caused concern on Capitol Hill, where Nevada lawmakers and clean energy lobbyists said they were scrambling to find out details. "The Trump Administration's lack of transparency around wind and solar projects has caused chaos and confusion," Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., said in a statement, adding that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum should "clarify the administration's actions soon." The move comes as the Trump administration has taken a rapid-fire series of steps to slow or stop the construction of renewable energy projects on public and private lands across the country. The Interior Department is now requiring dozens of formerly routine approvals for wind and solar projects to undergo new layers of political review by the interior secretary's office, a policy that is causing significant permitting delays. The agency is also opening investigations into bird deaths caused by wind farms and withdrawing millions of acres of federal waters previously available for leasing by offshore wind companies. In addition, the Interior Department has ordered work to stop on several wind farms off the coast of New England. Last month, however, a federal judge ruled that Danish energy company Orsted could restart work on one of these projects, a $6.2 billion wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island that is 80% complete. At the same time, the Trump administration has continued to approve permits for new oil and gas drilling and to encourage coal mining. The burning of fossil fuels is a main driver of climate change. During the ongoing government shutdown, the Interior Department has designated employees who process oil drilling permits as essential, enabling them to keep working while other workers are furloughed. Gov. Joe Lombardo of Nevada, a Republican, sent a letter to Burgum in August expressing concern about the new layers of political review for solar and wind projects. He wrote that the additional scrutiny could "prevent or unnecessarily delay energy development in the state that is poised to help meet the growing energy demands of the mining industry and data centers." Representatives for the governor did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Esmeralda 7 had advanced through the permitting process under the Biden administration, which prioritized clean energy development as part of its ambitious climate agenda. But after President Donald Trump took office, the Bureau of Land Management declined to release a final environmental impact statement, the next step in the process to approve the project.

NextEra was among the companies that donated at least $5 million to fund the construction of Trump's $200 million ballroom in the East Wing of the White House, CBS News reported. Another one of the utility's large solar projects in Nevada, known as Dodge Flat II, was still listed as "in progress" on the Bureau of Land Management website Friday.