Trump Admin’s Energy Plans Clash With Solar Giant

The Trump administration on Tuesday will auction off geothermal leases on Nevada desert land that solar developers want for their own projects.

NextEra Energy, a major solar developer, has asked the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to “remove, defer or reconfigure” three parcels that it said cover roughly 60 percent of the 1,000-megawatt Sawtooth solar project it plans in Nye County, Reuters reported Monday. The agency denied the request in August and pointed to its mandate to manage public land for multiple uses.

A geothermal lease does not authorize work that disturbs the land, an Interior Department spokesperson said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Developers would still have to submit exploration or construction plans for approval, including environmental reviews and consideration of other projects, the spokesperson said.

Geothermal plants use heat beneath the ground to generate electricity and can operate around the clock, according to the Department of Energy.

Nevada’s October 2025 geothermal sale raised a record $9.4 million, with bids on 86 parcels, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on X that month.

Alex Stevens, manager of policy and communications at the free-market Institute for Energy Research, said that the BLM should settle competing development plans before leasing disputed land, in a statement to the DCNF.

NextEra did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

“BLM should stop treating high-conflict parcels as blank acres that can be leased first and sorted out later,” Stevens said.

Stevens urged the agency to evaluate where projects could connect to the grid and how soon they could be built, among other factors. The bureau could change parcel boundaries, allow uses at different times or select a project with a realistic prospect of construction, he said.