Lewis Roca Blog

The Pennsylvania legislature is weighing two bills that require decommissioning plans for solar energy projects, and the debate over them among lawmakers illustrates the challenges associated with developing a solution to this growing issue in the renewable energy industry.

On March 18, 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) released its Photovoltaics End-of-Life Action Plan.

As renewable energy projects approach the end of their lifespan, companies may face various legal issues associated with the decommissioning or repowering processes, some of which may lead to litigation.

The first commercial wind and solar power generation facilities in the United States were constructed in the early-1980s. Since then, hundreds of acres of solar farms and thousands of individual wind turbines have been installed around the country largely as a result of maturing technologies, declining power prices, state renewable energy portfolio requirements and goals, and growing public interest in clean energy.

On Tuesday, June 29, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to reverse the Third Circuit and affirm that authorized natural gas pipeline developers have the ability to exercise federal eminent domain over state and municipal lands.