Federal friction : permitting risk across the US utility-scale renewable pipeline

This report is the first comprehensive, cross-technology assessment of siting and regulatory constraints across solar, wind and energy storage projects. It examines how expanding federal oversight is reshaping the development landscape, evaluating key permitting processes including the July 2025 Department of the Interior (DOI) memorandum, NEPA requirements and FAA Determination of No Hazard (DNH) review. It quantifies exposure across a significant amount of early-stage capacity, identifying where projects are most at risk due to wetlands, critical habitat, tribal lands and transmission-driven federal nexus. This research helps clients understand where permitting bottlenecks are emerging, how regulatory uncertainty may delay or cancel projects and what this means for capital deployment and long-term market growth.