This opinion piece from TWW’s John Karakoulakis originally was published by the Elko Daily Free Press and can be accessed here.
Nevada needs faster federal permitting for energy projects. Here are 18 billion reasons why
By John Karakoulakis
Elko Daily Free Press
Nevada is blessed with one of the most valuable energy resources in the entire country: An average of 300 days of sunshine per year. Solar power may not work everywhere, but here in Nevada, it makes all the sense in the world.
And yet, right now, more than 20 solar energy projects that would harness that resource are stuck in a federal waiting room, so to speak.
Each one of those projects is awaiting permitting approval from the Bureau of Land Management at the U.S. Department of the Interior. Let me explain what’s at stake.
Together, these projects represent nearly 11 gigawatts of new electricity generation capacity — enough to power the homes of more than 2.7 million average American families. The total construction investment: $18.2 billion. For perspective, the Las Vegas Sphere cost around $2.3 billion to build. In other words, we’re talking about the economic equivalent of building eight Las Vegas Spheres right here in Nevada.
That’s not a rounding error. That’s a generational investment in our state.
An economic study commissioned by The Western Way — a nonprofit that seeks pro-market solutions to energy and environmental challenges — analyzed the full pipeline of these pending Nevada solar projects. The findings are striking.
During construction, these projects would support 79,406 jobs over five years, generating $2.6 billion in wages, salaries, and benefits for Nevada workers. Many of those jobs would land in rural communities — exactly the kind of direct investment that smaller counties across our state need most.
Once these facilities are running, the economic benefits keep coming. Ongoing operations would produce $385 million in annual economic output, including $58.6 million in property tax revenue every year for local schools, law enforcement, and other essential services. In rural Nevada, that kind of sustained tax base is genuinely transformational.
Now, I want to be straightforward about something. There is a legitimate debate in Washington — and in Nevada — about the future of federal energy subsidies. The Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress have moved to rein in some federal tax credits for renewable energy. That is a policy debate worth having.
But the economic case for these projects doesn’t depend on resolving that debate. Many of these solar developments remain commercially viable, and they are urgently needed to meet a simple, undeniable reality: electricity demand in Nevada is rising, and the power grid needs more capacity to keep up.
In fact, the Trump administration’s own Department of Energy has acknowledged the country needs 124 gigawatts of new solar construction between now and 2030 — part of a broader buildout of 336 gigawatts of new capacity needed to maintain grid reliability as data centers, manufacturers, and other major energy users continue expanding across America. Nevada should be a big part of that story.
We have the land. We have the sun. We have experienced developers who are ready to invest billions of dollars in our state. What we need is a federal permitting process that moves at the speed of the economic opportunity in front of us.
The good news is we already know it can be done. When the Trump administration approved the $2.3 billion Libra Solar project in Mineral County at the end of 2025, it proved that federal and state officials can work together to move major energy investments across the finish line.
Governor Lombardo deserves credit for his work to keep Libra Solar on track. That same spirit of partnership — between Nevada’s elected officials and the Interior Department — is exactly what’s needed now to unlock the rest of this pipeline.
The investment is ready, the jobs are ready, and the grid needs more power. All that’s left is a clear signal from Washington that Nevada’s energy future is a priority.