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Clean energy projects bring real economic benefits—hundreds of millions in capital investment and significant property tax revenue with minimal infrastructure demands. Yet local opposition is rising rapidly. Contrary to popular belief, the core problem isn’t NIMBYism—it’s a policy problem: economic benefits are mostly invisible and public engagement is hamstrung by inadequate legal frameworks. What’s needed is a solution that provides tangible community benefits and certainty for developers, within an apparatus that encourages good faith negotiation.

Fortunately, a recent report from Dr. David Adelman at the UT Austin School of Law, and the Siting Solutions Project, highlights three policies available today that deliver a win-win: development agreements, Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs) and the Safety Net siting model. Taken together, these tools can enhance the size, desirability, and visibility of local benefits, strengthen community buy-in, neutralize local regulatory uncertainty, and accelerate development of clean energy projects.
Dr. Adelman and Nelson Falkenburg will present the findings from their recent report, providing more information on these three policy tools—why they’re needed, how they work, and their potential upside for developers. By attending, you will:

  1. Gain a deeper, nuanced understanding of the economics and social science behind local opposition
  2. Learn how current legal frameworks remove opportunities for negotiation and force binary decision-making by local governments
  3. Discover policy tools that exist today to deliver tangible, visible economic benefits for communities, improve negotiations, and provide developer certainty
  4. Explore how state-level policy reforms are needed to bring these solutions to bear in the communities where you work

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