Taking Green Energy Projects to Court: NEPA Review and Court Challenges to Renewable Energy

Arthur G. Fraas, Emily Joiner, Brielle Lee and Krystal Liu
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Arthur G. Fraas: Resources for the Future
Emily Joiner: Resources for the Future

No 25-15, RFF Reports from Resources for the Future

Abstract: The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is often identified as a major obstacle to renewable energy projects locating on federal public lands or seeking federal funding. Once NEPA permits have been issued, a project may face additional delays if a federal agency’s decision is challenged in court. The delays associated with NEPA permitting for renewable generation projects have been explored by Fraas et al. (2023, 2025), but the effect of environmental court challenges to renewables projects has received less attention. This paper builds on Fraas et al. (2023, 2025), examining the legal challenges faced by each project and presenting the timeline in months for each case. Nearly a third of solar projects and half of wind projects completing NEPA environmental impact statement reviews faced court challenges. Almost all cases were filed after the government agencies had issued their permitting decisions. Although the courts typically ruled in the government agencies’ and project developers’ favor, the majority of cases were appealed. Court challenges in both federal and state courts caused or contributed to the termination of three projects, and six additional projects experienced significant delays as developers awaited court appeal decisions.

Date: 2025-08-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env, nep-law and nep-ppm
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