New Publication: Outcomes and Timelines for State Permitting of Wind and Solar Projects
I’m pleased to share that our new article, “Outcomes and Timelines for State-Based Energy Facility Permitting in the United States,” has been published in Frontiers in Sustainable Energy Policy. I co-authored this with Robi Nilson, Lanbing Tao, Will Maddock, Natalie Baillargeon, and Ben Hoen at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
This study represents the first comprehensive collection of project-level permitting data for state-permitted wind and solar projects in the U.S. We gathered data on 460 projects across 19 states to answer a straightforward but surprisingly understudied question: how long does it take to get a state permit for a renewable energy facility, and how often are projects approved?
The headline findings: 90% of projects were approved, and most received a decision within about a year. But the variation across states is striking. Kentucky and Mississippi processed applications roughly five months faster than average, while Maryland, Ohio, Minnesota, and New York took about three months longer. Approval rates ranged from 80% to 100% depending on the state.
What explains these differences? Governance structures matter. States where permitting boards must incorporate local preferences tend to have higher approval rates — likely because developers bring projects into compliance before applying. States that have recently centralized authority at the state level, like Minnesota and New York, see more projects proposed but also more complex regulatory dynamics. And in Ohio, where state authority has been scaled back, the 20% cancellation rate stands out.
These findings arrive at an important moment. Many states are actively reforming their permitting processes to meet clean energy targets, and federal permitting debates often overshadow the fact that the vast majority of renewable energy projects are permitted at the state level on private land. This dataset provides a baseline — as reforms take effect, researchers and policymakers can now measure whether changes actually shorten timelines or improve outcomes, and which governance structures best balance efficiency with meaningful public participation.
This work complements our recent Policy Studies Journal article on the governance trade-offs in renewable energy siting. Where that piece examined the structural choices states make, this one measures the actual outcomes those choices produce. Together, they paint a clearer picture of how permitting policy shapes the pace of the energy transition.
Read the full article in Frontiers in Sustainable Energy Policy.
