Renewable energy and the US: This 3-step plan can make it happen

Elon Musk recently posted on X that solar energy will provide the majority of power generation. Many energy forecasts agree and data from the Pew Research Centre shows that 60% of Americans also want more clean energy.

So, why does building more renewable power in the United States feels like an uphill battle?

Start by looking at the responses to Musk’s post:

“Solar doesn’t work because the sun doesn’t always shine,” “Solar panels will break when there are storms,” and “Solar is not affordable.”

Messages like this appear across many social media platforms and feed special interest groups focused on slowing the development of clean energy. Communities that represent both sides of the aisle oppose clean energy development.

This is the biggest challenge facing the renewables industry and it can only be overcome by proactively engaging with local communities, reforming the permitting process and applying scalable, proven project development frameworks.

The Markets and Policy department at Berkeley Lab surveyed 984 Americans living within three miles of large-scale solar projects across the United States. By a ratio of almost three to one, respondents held positive attitudes about living next to a solar farm.

Societal buy-in is there; what’s missing is the mobilization of supporting community members to drown out the special interest groups fighting clean energy development.

Unfortunately, the special interest groups have a head start. Their efforts have resulted in 395 local and 19 state-level restrictions passed in 41 states that have effectively blocked renewable energy projects.

Combatting this won’t be easy. Edelman’s 2024 trust report found that people trust their peers as much as scientists and that public trust in media, government and academia has eroded.

The big trick is to take the time to win friends and secure trust before the work starts. Trying to ensure community buy-in for a clean energy project shortly before development milestones is a surefire way to erode confidence with fence line neighbours.

This is something the oil and gas industry does well, investing in community liaison officers to talk to people about the benefits of energy projects at town halls, barbecues and local fairs.

Conversations must happen early and often and the story needs to be told simply without the complex industry and academic jargon. The benefit for developers is that proper front-end engagement with local stakeholders can prevent special interest groups from fomenting local opposition based on misinformation.

The complex permitting process in the United States causes development cost overruns and project delays. In some cases, developers will simply withdraw or cancel a project.

The main problem is the process’s lack of transparency. The renewables industry and regulators must work together to solve this.

Denmark and the Netherlands created a transparent, one-stop shop for all the permitting approvals. This allows the developer to budget and plan for project completion while informing the public.

Germany and Spain increased transparency by digitizing the permitting process and the United Kingdom is streamlining the process while driving earlier community involvement.

In the United States, New York provides a streamlined and transparent permitting framework for large-scale renewables and California does the same for large-scale wind and solar projects.

California’s SB 100 law, which set a target of 100% clean energy by 2045, and California’s AB 2188, which requires local governments to implement expedited solar permitting, are great examples of state-level legislation that is helping unleash California’s renewable energy potential.

Delivering a successful energy project requires developers to ensure benefits or harms do not disproportionally affect a select group of the population.

That is why it is critical to adopt project development frameworks that incorporate centralized permitting, full public transparency, early local engagement and public financial incentives.

Turnkey solutions exist and offer proven approaches, strategies and activities that enable developers to secure stakeholder understanding, support and collective decision making around project siting and permitting.

Importantly, using these frameworks enables developers to honestly and transparently engage with disadvantaged communities that, in many states, see little to no benefit or incentive from the ongoing energy transition.

The result is that no group – whether from the general population or industry – feels left behind. This includes the fossil fuel sector and communities impacted by the shift to low-carbon energy.

The outcomes of recent elections and global political shifts are rightfully concerning to those worried about the health of our planet. People across the globe are experiencing the toll of climate change as homes are destroyed by extreme weather, critical ecosystems are disrupted, more public health crisis emerge.

The urgency to act was underscored in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Synthesis Report in 2023:

“Climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health. There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all. The choices and actions implemented in this decade will have impacts now and for thousands of years.”

Not every election or policy decision will support a sustainable future. That’s a reality.

What matters is that the renewables industry use the time we have now to explain transparently and in no uncertain terms the many benefits of clean power, including securing a sustainable future for the United States – and the Earth – for generations to come.