How to stick up for renewable energy projects near you

In Coles County, Illinois, a retired teacher named Dorothy Macy spoke up at local hearings to support a wind farm and later a solar farm proposed for her area. Both projects had faced pushback, but after Macy and a small group of neighbors testified about the tax revenue and school funding the projects would bring, county officials approved them. Both are now being built.

The story points to a bigger pattern: nearly one in four U.S. counties now restrict wind, solar, or battery projects, often driven by a vocal minority at public hearings, even though roughly half of Americans support renewable projects in their own area. Local officials tend to decide based on what they hear from constituents, so a handful of people showing up to support a project can be enough to get it approved.

If a wind, solar, or battery project is proposed near you, you can find out about it through local news, your city or county website, or neighborhood social media, and look for the public hearing date. Groups like Greenlight America, Solar United Neighbors, League of Conservation Voters, and Third Act have local chapters that can connect you with others and help you prepare. Advocates suggest learning the basics of the project, thanking the board, stating your support with reasons like tax revenue or landowner income, and listening to neighbors' concerns rather than dismissing them.