CHURCHILL COUNTY, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11 — Nevada is one of the sunniest states in the country, so it makes perfect sense that solar power has become a major part of the Silver State’s clean energy transition. Big projects are coming online, and renewable energy production has been climbing.

But state officials and some in the solar industry fear policy changes implemented by the Trump administration could slow progress at a critical moment.

Will Nevada see a solar power slowdown under ‘red tape’ policies of Trump administration?

In Churchill County, crews are installing 1.1 million solar panels as part of NV Energy’s ‘Sierra Solar’ project, one of the utility’s largest projects in the state. When fully complete, it will generate 400 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power a third of all the homes and businesses in northern Nevada on an average day.

“They’re absolutely critical. Not only are they important to meet the renewable portfolio standard, but they’re actually important to meet the increasing demand of energy that we’re seeing within our service territory,” said Jesse Murray, NV Energy’s senior vice president of electric delivery.

Murray told News 4-Fox 11 projects like Sierra Solar are essential if the utility is to meet the state-required renewable portfolio standard, which requires that 50% of all power in Nevada must come from renewable sources by 2030. In 2024, 46.8% of the electricity generated in state came from renewable sources.

Over 1.1 million solar panels are being installed as part of NV Energy’s Sierra Solar project in Churchill County.

But now some fear good progress made so far could slow down under the new direction of the Trump administration, which has enacted policies and added bureaucratic red tape.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed by President Donald Trump in July, set a 2027 deadline for companies to claim solar tax credits. A memo issued the same month requires Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to personally sign off on green energy projects on public land, an extra hurdle that could slow the approval of projects.

Talk about bureaucratic red tape, that is going to slow everything down.

“If it takes too long for the Secretary to make a determination based on all the other things he’s got to do, to get to those reviews is going take some time for him. And if it slows these projects down, we may lose them,” Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, told News 4-Fox 11.

Solar panels as part of NV Energy’s Sierra Solar project in Churchill County.

“We may lose these renewable energy projects. They cost money. Investors are not going to stay forever. These projects are not gonna be there forever. And then we lose jobs in Nevada, and we lose the ability to grow our economy.”

The requirement hasn’t just worried Democrats, who sent a letter to the Trump administration sounding the alarm.

Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, a Republican, sent federal officials a letter warning them that the additional oversight has ‘frozen’ the industry, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. His office did not respond to multiple emails seeking an interview for this story.

Some reports this fall suggested the Bureau of Land Management had canceled the largest solar project in the country in Esmeralda County, commonly referred to as the ‘Esmeralda 7.’

A Bureau of Land Management map of the ‘Esmeralda 7’ solar projects in central Nevada.

The agency disputed that and said the project could still move forward but with a different approach, according to The Nevada Independent. And President Trump posted on Truth Social that his administration ‘will not approve wind or farmer destroying solar.’

On the ground, all the uncertainty is shaping decisions about where and how to develop grid-scale solar projects.

In the Honey Lake Valley north of Reno, Ultreia Group consultant Brent Moore is working to kickstart the 250-megawatt Sunseeker Solar project.

Because the project is already fully permitted and not located on federal land, Moore believes the project will advance. He worries, however, that similar efforts on or passing through federal lands across the West may struggle to clear new federal hurdles.

“Right now, if you want to develop power, you pretty much need to be on private land, and you need to ensure that that private land has no nexus to the federal government,” he said. “Now we’re fighting a federal government who wants to impede the public policies and the state rights of the Western U.S.”

For NV Energy’s part, Murray said the utility is still executing and following its integrated resource plan to reach the 50% renewables mark by 2030.

Nevada’s renewable portfolio standard requires that 50% of power generated in the state must be renewable by 2030.

“I think right now we’re still executing to our plan. Like I said, we go through the integrated resource planning process,” he said.

Certainly, we’re gonna evaluate any policy changes and that’s common, right? We deal with that in our business, that’s just how things go. And so as we do see changes in policy or changes in direction, we will evaluate those.

The Sierra Solar project in Churchill County is scheduled to begin generating electricity next May, with full build-out expected by 2027. In addition to solar power generation, the project also includes 400 megawatts of battery storage, allowing NV Energy to hold power generated during low-demand periods and send it back to customers when demand increases.

As for Sunseeker Solar, Moore said he hopes the project can begin construction in about a year.

Email reporter Ben Margiott at bjmargiott@sbgtv.com. Follow @BenMargiott on X and Ben Margiott KRNV on Facebook.