In March 2024, Bannock County, Idaho, passed an ordinance banning utility-scale solar and wind development by a 2–1 vote. Commissioner Jeff Hough, the lone dissenter, argued the ban violated property rights and the principles the country was founded on. He has since become commission chair and is working to overturn the ban.
This fall, the commission will vote on new language that would allow solar, wind, and nuclear development. The county is a prime spot for new power plants because it hosts the Populus substation, a key junction for moving electricity across Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and the Pacific Northwest. Idaho Power expects electricity demand to grow by 1 gigawatt by 2030, a roughly 26% leap from current levels.
Hough frames the reversal as an economic opportunity. Bannock County's population has grown more slowly than Idaho's, rural services are disappearing, and drought worsened by climate change is hurting family farms. Nearby counties generated $909,000 and $639,000 in tax revenue from renewable projects in 2024. The vote comes amid a national trend: nearly 1 in 4 U.S. counties now has some kind of ban, moratorium, or impediment to clean energy, up from 15% in 2023, with more than 60% of those bans in rural counties.