As executive orders stall renewable energy development and spark uncertainty in the energy sector, the federal government has twice delayed when it will issue a final decision on Greenlink North, a controversial high-voltage transmission line that would bisect central Nevada.

Slated to parallel Highway 50, Nevada’s famed “Loneliest Road in America,” Greenlink North would be the final piece of the puzzle in a statewide transmission project being built by NV Energy. The Department of Interior (DOI) must issue a final OK for the northern segment of the project before NV Energy can commence construction. The timeline for that stamp of approval has been bumped back by nearly two months, cutting into the utility’s ability to comply with state legislation requiring it to have a major transmission line in service by the end of 2028.

A utility spokesperson said in an email to The Nevada Independent that it is “monitoring the process closely and will make any necessary adjustments to meet the project’s in-service date.”  

NV Energy says Greenlink will create a renewable energy highway that will allow access to about 4,000 megawatts of undeveloped renewable resources that currently can’t be tapped because of a lack of infrastructure. 

The two-pronged Greenlink project will connect Las Vegas to Reno (Greenlink West) and Yerington to Ely (Greenlink North) with 525-kilowatt lines, ultimately connecting to an existing line that runs from Ely to Las Vegas. 

The entirety of the Greenlink project has garnered fierce opposition from diverse groups, including environmentalists, sportsmen and rural lawmakers. In its earliest days, state energy regulators approached the project cautiously, rejecting NV Energy’s original proposal in its entirety due to cost concerns. Originally estimated to cost $2.5 billion, that increased to upwards of $4.2 billion last year due to inflation and environmental considerations, according to the utility. (Project cost estimates remain around $4.2 billion). 

But it’s the northernmost portion of the project that opponents say is most troubling. 

Greenlink North would pierce some of the last undeveloped stretches of land in the heart of the state and turn central Nevada into a sea of solar panels and transmission lines, they say. The project carves out a corridor wide enough to leave room for the building of future, additional transmission lines and is prompting a rush of utility-scale solar applications. In Lander County alone, more than 36,000 acres have been earmarked for solar development in areas previously considered uneconomical to develop.

The effects of that infrastructure would be far reaching, opponents say, from devastating the state’s already dwindling greater sage-grouse population to destroying the viewshed around iconic Highway 50.

The brewing battle over Greenlink North comes at a time of political uncertainty for renewable energy projects at the federal level. President Donald Trump’s administration has all but gutted utility-scale solar development across the West through a series of memos and executive orders.

But solar is a critical segment of Nevada’s energy supply with NV Energy having dozens of solar and battery storage projects in its interconnection queue, and the federal uncertainty prompted Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo to intercede.

“[M]y office is hearing that solar projects deep in the project pipeline have been frozen,” Lombardo wrote in an August letter to the DOI, adding that the federal directives have “stopped solar development on federal lands in Nevada …”

Now, according to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a decision on whether Greenlink North can proceed will be delayed until at least Oct. 30, and uncertainty remains about the future of several large-scale solar projects that would tie into the line.

The Nevada BLM office is evaluating information it received during a required protest period, according to a bureau spokesperson, and that review process has pushed back the date the agency expects to issue its final decision. Federal actions are not delaying the final decision on Greenlink North “at this time,” according to the spokesperson.

But with the uncertainty around the future of some utility-scale solar projects, opponents question the need to push the Greenlink North project through.

“We don’t want to see central Nevada destroyed,” Lander County Commissioner Dee Helming said during a tour of the transmission line’s proposed route.

Undermining Nevada’s solar boom

One of Trump’s first moves as president was to declare a national energy emergency; since then, a slew of executive orders, memos and decisions have targeted renewable resources — primarily solar and wind.

In July, federal lawmakers signed off on the One Big Beautiful Bill, which included eliminating tax credits for solar and other renewable energy projects. The DOI also announced that all aspects of solar projects on federal land — from rights-of-way to operating plans — must be approved by the department’s secretary, Doug Burgum.

Burgum followed that announcement with an order prioritizing energy projects such as nuclear, coal and gas that the department says are more efficient in their land use-, over land-intensive energy projects such as solar.

These federal maneuvers are stalling Nevada’s solar energy boom.

The state has more than 33 gigawatts of proposed solar energy and battery storage projects in various stages of development, Lombardo wrote in his letter.

“Solar energy development on federal land fuels Nevada’s economy,” he wrote. Existing projects are expected to create tens of thousands of jobs and over $6 billion in state and local taxes. “Nevada cannot afford to walk away from those benefits and their potentially transformational effect for the State’s economy.” 

Eureka County Natural Resources Manager Jake Tibbits says Lombardo’s letter highlights an ongoing interest by industry in developing in Nevada. 

“Although solar under the current administration may be on ice, there’s definitely an interest by industry to move forward, and Gov. Lombardo's letter highlighted that,” he told The Indy in an interview.

In his letter, Lombardo called out three solar projects NV Energy has power purchase agreements with “that would immediately support our growing economy,” including Libra Solar near Yerington, which the BLM signed off on last year.

Libra Solar is being developed by Arevia Power, the company that hired former state Sen. Chris Brooks (D-Las Vegas), who sponsored legislation requiring NV Energy to build a transmission line. Brooks resigned from the Legislature before taking the role.

But NV Energy has also asked federal energy regulators for permission to let pending interconnection customers (new electricity generators seeking to connect to the grid) withdraw their requests penalty-free, Utility Dive reported. Solar makes up the bulk of those projects.

‘Let’s be smart from the start’

As the Greenlink project took shape prior to the Trump administration, developers submitted a slew of utility-scale solar applications that would cover hundreds of thousands of acres in Nevada.

It’s that mad rush for solar development that opponents don’t want to see along Highway 50. 

A resolution during the 2025 legislative session would have urged the federal government, in part, to coordinate with local and state government agencies on what land is appropriate for development, but the resolution never received a hearing. Behind-the-scenes lobbying killed it, according to Tibbits. 

The failure of the resolution to even get a hearing echoes what Tibbits says is complete silence in Nevada law on allowing counties to regulate renewable energy and the citing of renewable energy projects.

“In Nevada, regardless of the feds, I think we’ll keep seeing these projects go forward,” Tibbits said, referencing the state’s renewable portfolio standard that requires NV Energy to pull 50 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.

“Let’s be smart from the start, rather than wait for solar companies to come and say ‘This is where we want a project,’” he added. 

When asked why Greenlink North was planned to run along Highway 50 instead of the more developed Interstate 80 corridor, the utility pointed out the BLM determined that the route has the best overall balance of resource impacts.  

But opponents say building along Highway 50 would cut through some of the state’s most undeveloped land in an area where open sagebrush provides habitat for the state’s dwindling greater sage-grouse population — the bird has been a unifier for diverse groups ranging from conservationists to sportsmen to rural lawmakers in the battle against Greenlink North.

Greater sage-grouse once numbered in the millions across North America, but their numbers have plummeted to around 200,000. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, energy development and transmission lines are among the primary causes of habitat loss for the birds, which require large, intact sagebrush habitat to thrive. 

Building along Highway 50 will require construction in areas the BLM and U.S. Forest Service have identified as priority habitat management areas and is just another nail in the coffin for the birds, Nevada wildlife experts say.

“The bird’s got 2.5 strikes against it. Projects like this are going to push it over the brink,” said Larry Johnson, president of the Coalition for Nevada’s Wildlife.