The Trump administration has abruptly canceled the largest solar project in the United States. The "Esmeralda 7" project, which was to be built in the Nevada desert, was a mega project that would generate 6.2 gigawatts (GW) of power upon completion and supply electricity to about 2 million households. However, the Bureau of land Management (BLM) changed the project's status to "canceled" on its website last week.
According to CNN on the 14th (local time), the Esmeralda 7 project began under the Joe Biden administration and had been undergoing the federal government's consolidated approval process. The developer planned to install solar panels and large batteries on 118,000 acres (about 477 square kilometers) of federally owned land in Nevada. But the project stalled as the Trump administration took office and moved in earnest to review government renewable energy projects. The Interior Department said, "This is unrelated to the government shutdown, and we agreed with the developer to adjust the approach," but did not provide a specific timeline for resumption.
As a result, developers will have to reapply for the seven projects as separate individual proposals. In that case, environmental impact assessments and approval procedures could be delayed from months to years, and the possibility that the federal government could later cancel permits again cannot be ruled out. NextEra Energy, one of the developers, said it is "still committed to advancing the project" and will "work constructively with the Bureau of land Management."
After news of the project's cancellation broke, political circles offered criticism for different reasons. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, said, "If we keep going like this, we will lose the AI and energy competition with China," adding, "Solar and batteries are already approaching baseload power." He maintains that pushing the project forward is necessary "to maintain energy security and industrial competitiveness."
Nevada's Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen called solar power "a core industry of the state's economy" and demanded a clear explanation from the Interior Department. Rosen warned, "If the Trump administration attacks the solar industry, Nevada's economy will take a major hit."
Since early this year, the Trump administration has put broad pressure on the renewable energy industry by sharply scaling back wind and solar tax credit programs. Think tank Energy Innovation said that "with the elimination of tax credits, U.S. household electricity bills will rise further over the next 10 years." The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said electricity rates have risen faster than inflation since 2022 and are expected to continue rising next year.
There are also warnings that political decisions are shaking large-scale renewable energy projects, a key pillar of energy security and climate response. Scott Sklar, director of sustainable energy at George Washington University, said, "The Trump administration is effectively blocking renewable energy projects by increasing regulatory barriers and approval delays."
However, President Trump has argued that "renewable energy is a scam," and recently reiterated on the social media platform Truth Social that he "will not approve wind or solar."