Researcher ORCID Identifier

0009-0002-1497-3287

Graduation Year

2026

Date of Submission

4-2026

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Environment, Economics, and Politics (EEP)

Reader 1

Eric Helland

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2026 Isabella S Estey

Abstract

Utility-scale renewable energy projects on federal land face litigation at high rates, yet whether litigation events affect project completion timelines remains relatively unexamined in the literature. Inspired by Fraas et al. (2025), this paper examines whether active litigation affects the monthly probability that a renewable energy project reaches operation after federal environmental review. I use PACER court records and a dataset of all solar, wind, and geothermal projects that completed the NEPA environmental review process between 2009 and 2023 from Fraas et al. (2025) to estimate a discrete-time proportional hazard model. This analysis of 93 projects finds that litigation duration, though not statistically significant, is negatively associated with total renewable energy project duration, and that the NEPA review track is the strongest predictor of post-approval development duration. Projects completing an Environmental Impact Statement have a substantially lower monthly completion probability than those completing an Environmental Assessment, suggesting that characteristics intrinsically associated with the larger, more complex projects that complete an EIS are more constraining than litigation. These findings challenge the premise underlying proposals like the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, which targets litigation as a primary source of delay. Accelerating the renewable energy transition may require directing reform efforts toward areas where delay mechanisms are better documented and more conclusively supported by empirical evidence.

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