For superhero and comics aficionados, there’s Comic-Con; for cyclists, the Tour de France; and for clean energy permitting wonks, American Clean Power’s Siting and Permitting Conference. Besides swapping out cosplay and lycra for pantsuits and oxfords, the ACP Siting and Permitting Conference shares more similarities with these events than first meets the eye. Each event convenes people dedicated to their craft, is held in a stunning location, and features intense competition for the spotlight (okay, admittedly, this one was a stretch).

The Best and Brightest

I’m sure Comic-Con is full of colorful characters, and the Tour probably attracts a delightful menagerie, but all my favorite people attend the Siting and Permitting conference. The conference has become a sort of annual reunion, bringing together everyone working in this policy domain. Over the last few years, I’ve met many of my closest colleagues and collaborators at this event, leading to exciting new projects. The “Laws in Order” report — the first comprehensive inventory of siting policies — originated at the 2023 Albuquerque conference happy hour over hors d’oeuvres with Ben Hoen of LBNL and Kendra Kostek from the U.S. Department of Energy. I previewed our findings from the report at the Colorado Springs conference poster session the following year.

Recognizing that all the best and brightest would be at the conference this year, our Siting Solutions Project organized a happy hour for fellow policy advocates, funders, and permitting experts to join us for drinks and wonkery at a nearby bar. Over pizza, we discussed the finer points of setbacks and vegetative buffers, dug into the challenges of bringing community concerns to the decision-making table, and argued over which states have it all figured out.

Spotlights and Highlights

I know very little about cycling, in case that wasn’t apparent until now, but I do know that the Tour de France takes place over multiple races called stages. I don’t know why. The ACP Siting and Permitting conference has stages, too — more like the Comic-Con ones, I imagine – and that’s where panels, presentations, and roundtables take place. Clean Tomorrow’s Co-Founder and Senior Director of Programs, Alex Breckel, moderated a panel discussion on regional and state siting legislation, where experts from state agencies and industry discussed the finer points of good siting policy and how to build effective advocacy coalitions.

Some other highlights from the stage included:

·       Chris Olsson, an environmental health expert, reminding the audience of developers they only have “one shot, one opportunity” to provide accurate information to a community, while playing the opening bars of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” over his iPhone’s speaker.

·       Ayelet Hines from Tigercomm, imploring the developer community to run every new renewable energy project like a political campaign, coordinating between community engagement, public affairs, and all of the professionals involved in project development.

·       Scott Laeser of the Rural Climate Partnership, sharing the results of a survey of rural Americans, which showed that through accurate messaging from compelling messengers (especially other rural folks, like farmers), industry can meaningfully shift public perceptions of renewable energy.

·       Jeff Smith, a sheep farmer and solar project host, describing the ways in which developers could have better prepared him and his community for what to expect during solar construction, while identifying ways to improve local relationships.

·       A panel moderated by Louise Miltich of the Great Plains Institute, walking a rapt audience through the recent siting policy win in Minnesota that meaningfully accelerates permitting timelines through common-sense reforms, including consolidating reviews in a single agency and removing duplicative requirements.

And then there are the meetings behind closed doors. This year, I spoke to an invitation-only meeting of ACP’s Local Affairs Committee. I shared with them our work tracking state renewable energy siting and permitting legislation across the country, including our monthly State of Siting newsletter.

Location, Location, Location

It may not be the French alps or the beaches of San Diego, but the ACP conference is hosted in beautiful venues in states where siting policy is on the docket. In 2024, the conference took place in Colorado Springs at the Broadmoor, which is, according to its website, “The World’s Longest-Running Forbes Five-Star, AAA Five-Diamond Resort.” The location was also notable because Colorado was in the middle of a legislative session with clean energy siting on the agenda. While comprehensive reforms didn’t pass the legislature, an interim study and county resourcing bill did, setting the stage for more expansive reforms in 2026. And next year, the ACP conference will be right back in the mix when Denver plays host.

This year, ACP hosted the conference in Seattle. No other place can hold a candle to the Pacific Northwest on a sunny spring day. Where else do you get picturesque ferries crisscrossing a bay that’s rich with sea life and ringed with snow-capped mountains?  It’s not only a beautiful location – Washington’s legislature is grappling with how best to site renewable energy, introducing several rounds of reforms over the past few years.

Celeb sightings won’t pop up on your Instagram feed, and you won’t see clips from the ACP conference on SportsCenter, but you might get some earnest LinkedIn posts featuring light bulbs and trend lines. And that’s yet another way this conference is sort of – maybe a little bit? – like Comic-Con and the Tour de France.