Alabama officials want to roll out the country’s first state-issued solar project ban. (Heatmap)
The origin story: Meta and developer Silicon Ranch are planning a large solar farm near Stockton (pop. <1K) to power a data center near Montgomery. Stockton residents are furious. But county officials don’t have sway over the project, so the fight went to the state legislature.
The result? A state senate bill that would impose an immediate, one-year moratorium on large-scale solar projects statewide (TVA projects excluded). More than 15% of counties in the U.S. have essentially blocked new utility-scale wind and/or solar—but this takes things to the next level.
Déjà vu: Alabama officials pulled the same move with wind in 2013 after a turbine proposal in the same county sparked backlash. That ban led to permanent county-level veto authority over wind projects.