Wait, The Esmaralda 7 Solar Power Projects Are Not Dead, Yet

The Esmeralda 7 solar power projects, a cluster of seven large-scale solar-plus-storage developments in Esmeralda County, Nevada, have faced significant uncertainty following the U.S. Interior Department's July 2023 move to restrict renewable energy projects on public lands. Initially approved in late 2023, these projects aim to generate up to 6.2 gigawatts of electricity—enough to power around 4 million households—despite being located in a sparsely populated area with only hundreds of residents. The key to their viability lies in the Greenlink transmission network, a planned infrastructure by NV Energy designed to connect Esmeralda 7 to major energy markets across Nevada, enabling the distribution of renewable energy to more populous regions. However, new federal guidelines introduced by the Interior Department in July 2023 have complicated the approval process for both the solar projects and the critical Greenlink transmission lines, which require federal right-of-way permits. This regulatory shift prompted Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo