Overview
- Opponents across the country are pressuring officials to stop or delay utility-scale solar by citing health risks that researchers and legal scholars say lack credible evidence.
- In St. Clair County, Michigan, the health department advanced a policy restricting solar and battery sites after its medical director warned about noise, visual effects, and contamination, and it set a nonrefundable $25,000 review fee for proposals.
- The Ohio Power Siting Board rejected a solar farm application last month after residents testified about possible health harms even though board staff said the project met all requirements.
- Missouri lawmakers are weighing a bill that would pause commercial solar projects through at least 2027 while a state agency writes rules, with the bill’s emergency clause invoking public health and safety.
- The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects most new utility-scale solar capacity this year in Texas, Arizona, California, and Michigan, yet local resistance in growth states like Michigan is intensifying.