Building A More Secure Future for Indiana
Building a diverse set of resources to power our economy will ensure this growing need for electricity is done affordably and maximizes economic opportunities for Hoosiers across the state.
Now is the time to invest in our future, but unnecessary restrictions are endangering that future.
If Indiana’s electrical grid can’t keep up, power outages will be more common, prices will rise, and families will struggle while investments go elsewhere. Building more wind, solar, and batteries will strengthen our grid, and ensure we have enough energy to power our economy and attract new economic development to the state.
Key reforms for building and siting new, clean energy projects in Indiana are needed now!
Read below to learn more about these projects and why siting reform is critical to Indiana’s economy.
What is siting reform and why should I care?
Clean energy siting, or permitting, is the series of decision-making processes intended to make sure that new clean energy projects are built safely and receive thorough review. These processes determine the location and design of new wind, solar, and other clean energy- generating facilities.
Steps such as public hearings, environmental impact studies and other requirements are intended to balance the need to build new energy resources with important considerations like public safety, environmental protections and other impacts.
But these processes also can be unnecessarily burdensome for project developers and landowners who wish to partner with project developers to lease land, earn revenue, and diversify their income. Across the state, local governments are increasingly and specifically targeting clean energy projects with restrictive zoning rules, arbitrarily imposing requirements, withholding permits, or enacting new or changing regulations in the middle of an application process.
The lack of consistency and certainty for developers and willing landowner partners leads to delays, canceled projects, or denials of permits that lack clarity as to why a project was rejected. All combined, the state’s patchwork approach to permitting new projects has led to an unfriendly business environment, leaving viable and beneficial economic development opportunities on the table. Additionally, the uncertainty around permitting processes has stalled the development of critical energy facilities that Hoosier families and businesses rely upon for their supply of electricity. Local regulations are determining Indiana’s energy policy and hampering economic development to the detriment of all Hoosiers.
Reforming the laws and permitting processes for new clean energy facilities is necessary to protect Indiana’s electrical grid and reap the economic benefits that come with more energy generation.
Building more here means a more secure, and affordable energy future.
The time for reform is now.
Benefits of Clean Energy Siting Reform
Solar, wind, and other technologies benefit Indiana with cheaper, more resilient, locally produced energy that creates more jobs in Indiana and keeps our air and water clean.
Preserve the Family Farm
Landowners like Indiana’s family farmers welcome the chance to host solar and wind farms as a rare source of reliable supplemental income. For some, it’s the difference between success or failure, an opportunity to keep the family farm intact for future generations.
More Tax Revenue
These energy-producing projects are a boon to local communities bringing in millions of dollars of new tax revenue to support critical services such as firefighting and emergency services, roads and bridges, parks, and other amenities.
Business Attraction & Job Creation
Building more clean energy multiplies these benefits to the state, as well, making Indiana more attractive to business investment and job creation. Indiana is in a competition for the jobs of today and it’s a competition we must win.
Doing It Right
It's important that we not only build more energy resources but build them right. Reforming siting and permitting laws in Indiana would secure the benefits that these projects provide, and ensure the process ensures safety from all potential risks and hazards.
Critical Energy Supply
Slowing, stalling, or blocking new clean energy projects hurts us all as consumers of electricity. As demand for electricity grows, we must add more power generation to the grid in order to keep costs low, and to protect against energy shortages.
Siting Reform for Hoosiers
Utility-scale wind and solar energy projects will add critical energy supply to meet growing needs in our state.
Developers of these new energy projects want to work with local communities and invest in Indiana, but inconsistent and overly burdensome permitting processes are creating an unfavorable business environment here.
Indiana urgently needs to reform its clean energy siting and permitting rules so that more projects can be built to meet growing demand. More power coming online will stabilize the electrical grid and power a growing economy. Doing nothing is not an option.
Indiana must have a logical, coordinated pro-growth policy to ensure the energy needs of all Hoosiers will be met – now and in the future.
In order to improve the state’s business environment for project development, the state must offer:
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A predictable permitting environment in which application and review processes are clear and consistent, remaining unchanged throughout the process (i.e., ordinances, zoning or regulations cannot change mid-process), and follow reasonable and enforceable timelines;
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A permitting environment in which state and/or local governmental processes do not interfere with the property rights of landowners or impede the ability of developers to work with them and willing energy buyer(s) (such as utilities or large energy users) to build a project;
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Uniform or a set of reasonable ranges of siting criteria and permitting requirements and conditions. Too much variability or subjectiveness in key areas increases the risk of project development and can sometimes prevent willing landowners and developers from working on a project altogether. Setting these criteria in every locality to be in line with the general process of development would equally communicate certainty that developers need, while at the same time, set clear parameters that community members can expect from developers in things such as: setback distances, screening, fencing, road-use agreements, decommissioning requirements, interconnection, fire and/or spill prevention, good neighbor requirements, height requirements, decibel thresholds, and design and readiness requirements.
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Clarity in the appeals process if project applications are denied or not acted upon in a timely manner.
Such reforms will bring more benefits than ever to Indiana’s counties and towns through the creation of new community benefit agreements that will add hundreds of thousands of dollars of revenue for local host communities.
For lower energy bills and reliable power; for a homegrown energy economy that creates new jobs and revitalizes rural economies; for clean air and water; for saving our family farms; for all of these reasons and more, Indiana needs to update its permitting processes to better attract the businesses that build critical clean energy facilities.
Bringing more energy to Indiana to meet critical needs requires a reformed siting and permitting system that works for everyone.
Paid for by Advanced Energy United