In our weekly segment, "A Closer Look," we feature a story from a BTPM NPR reporter. This week, Assistant Managing Editor Ryan Zunner sits down with Reporter Holly Kirkpatrick to break down how a change at the federal level affects renewable energy projects in WNY.
Ryan Zunner: Welcome to “A Closer Look” here on BTPM NPR. I'm Ryan Zunner. Today I'm joined by reporter Holly Kirkpatrick.
Holly Kirkpatrick: Good to be here, Ryan.
Zunner: You've been reporting on the new laws and deadlines imposed on the renewable energy industry by the Trump administration's “One Big, Beautiful Bill. What have you found?
Kirkpatrick: Rules that are hostile to the clean energy industry, basically, particularly wind and solar projects already in the project pipeline. So, the way this bill does that is by setting stringent deadlines that determine if a project qualifies for federal tax credits. Now, those credits typically cover around a third of project costs, so they play quite a big part in incentivizing developers to build. As part of this bill, construction work on these projects has to start by July 4, 2026, if those projects are to be eligible for those tax credits.
Zunner: You spoke to an experienced environmental lawyer in the region who explained that this construction deadline will be very difficult to meet for many wind and solar project developers. Why is that?
Kirkpatrick: Yeah, David Flynn from law firm Philips Lytle, he's working in connection with around eight renewable projects in Western New York right now, and he told me that this deadline is essentially creating a bottleneck, so the demand is outweighing the supply when it comes to construction workers, he said there are simply not enough workers to go around to get all these projects started before that deadline. As Flynn reminds us, it's not just New York or this region that's under the gun here; it's a nationwide race to start construction to qualify for those tax credits.
David Flynn [Soundbite]: "They're being pulled to almost every state in the US by developers trying all trying to do the same things, and that is, get their projects in under the wire."
Kirkpatrick: On top of that, Ryan, I should mention that the IRS has also tightened the rules on what counts as the start of construction for renewable projects after Trump issued an executive order instructing them to do so. So, under the previous rules, developers could qualify for those credits through either starting physical work, such as clearing or foundation work, or by spending at least 5% of total project costs. The new rules get rid of that 5% spend option, requiring developers to show substantial physical work on site.
Zunner: None of this sounds like particularly good news for those involved in renewable energy projects, of course, here in New York, right? Over the past few years, there's been a big emphasis on renewable energy, although Governor Hochul kind of talked about slowing down that process. How is this particular rule set going to impact our region?
Kirkpatrick: Yeah, there are 10 wind or solar projects poised to start work in Western New York. So, they're projects that have permits, but they've not yet started construction. Lawyer Flynn said that developers are likely to just pause right now, so as to simply hold off potentially for years. He said some will even wait as long as for an administration change, or some could just ditch their plans altogether. So, if we want to get into specifics, here, there is a wind project slated for Orleans County called Heritage Wind. I spoke with Brian O'Shea, the developer of that project, Apex Clean Energy. Now he said their timeline hasn't actually changed because of this bill. They still intend to start construction in early 2026 and then be operational by 2027.
Zunner: And for those projects that do hold off, how will that impact people in our region?
Kirkpatrick: Basically, they're not going to get the money that they're due when these projects start construction or become operational. So if you're a municipality that has agreed to host one of these large-scale projects, then you have what's called a host community agreement with the developer. As part of those agreements, many municipalities are set to get paid millions over the lifetime of the project. So, for example, the project Heritage Wind in Orleans County, the town of Barry, is the host of the project. They're slated to get $27 million over 25 years, and $850k of that in the first year of operation alone. So, to put that into perspective Ryan, their annual budget is $699,000, so $850k, that's more than that. It's even enough money to zero out town taxes if they want to. So, as you heard, that project is still supposed to go ahead, but there'll be lots of other projects that don't, and the host municipalities, therefore, won't get most of the cash that they're due.
Zunner: Alrighty, great reporting on this. Thank you. That's Holly Kirkpatrick, reporter from BTPM NPR. If you want to check out any more of her reporting, or any of our other reporters' stories, you can check out btpm.org/news. Thanks for listening to “A Closer Look.” I'm Ryan Zunner for BTPM NPR.
