This story was originally co-published by Canary Media and the Daily Yonder, and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
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story → co → collaboration
Jeff Hough did not pull any punches.
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Hough → pull → punches
What his fellow Republican county commissioners were about to do, he said to the packed courthouse, would violate America’s founding ideals.
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he → do → ideals
He quoted the Declaration of Independence to make his case.
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He → quote → case
The three-person commission was about to vote on an ordinance that would ban utility-scale solar and wind development in Bannock County, Idaho.
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that → vote → County
“We cannot deny the entire county the opportunity to exercise their property rights,” Hough said.
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Hough → deny → rights
“That goes against the principles this country was founded on.”
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country → go → principles
A few minutes after Hough’s emphatic speech, the ordinance passed by a 2–1 vote.
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ordinance → pass → vote
Since that consequential vote in March 2024, Hough has become the chair of the county commission and has dedicated himself to overturning that ordinance.
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Hough → become → ordinance
He will soon have a chance to make that happen.
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that → have → chance
This fall, Hough and the other two commissioners are set to vote on an ordinance with new language that would allow the development of solar and wind, along with nuclear energy, in the county.
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that → set → county
The Bannock County vote is a test case of whether—and how—a community can revisit its assumptions about the costs and benefits of clean energy and decide to welcome development it once swore off.
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it → revisit → development
In 2025, nearly one in four US counties had some kind of ban, moratorium, or impediment to clean energy development, up from 15 percent of counties in 2023.
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counties → have → 2023
More than 60 percent of counties with bans are rural, according to a Daily Yonder and Canary Media analysis of data from USA Today and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University.
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percent → accord → University
Bucking this national trend and reversing the ban would put Bannock County back in play at a moment when Idaho needs all the energy it can get.
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it → buck → energy
Idaho Power, the state’s largest utility, expects electricity demand to grow by 1 gigawatt by 2030, a roughly 26 percent leap from current levels.
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demand → expect → levels
“The need to build stuff now is critical to Idaho’s economic future,” said Aaron Menenberg, the Idaho policy manager for Renewable Northwest, a nonprofit working to decarbonize the region’s grid.
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Menenberg → build → grid
“We can’t afford to say no to anything.”
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We → afford → anything
Bannock County, nestled in a valley a few hours north of Salt Lake City and 100 miles west of Wyoming’s Teton Range, is a prime location for new power plants.
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County → nestle → plants
It’s home to the Populus substation, a critical juncture for getting electrons onto the grid and into Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and the Pacific Northwest.
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It → ’ → Idaho
Building new power plants near a substation is cheaper, and those savings can help bring down costs for utility customers.
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savings → build → customers
But the biggest opportunity for county residents, as Hough sees it, is not utility-bill savings: It’s economic development.
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It → see → it
In recent years, Bannock County’s population has grown far more slowly than Idaho’s.
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population → grow → Idaho
The county’s rural communities, meanwhile, are watching essential services disappear, and drought worsened by climate change is making it difficult for family farms to stay afloat.
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farms → watch → change
Hough believes renewables would bring money into the community.
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renewables → believe → community
Bannock County’s neighbors offer local proof: In 2024, projects in nearby Power and Bingham counties generated $909,000 and $639,000 in tax revenue, respectively.
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projects → offer → revenue
Hough wants to send a message—to the renewables industry and others—that Bannock County is “open for business,” too.
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County → want → business
“Rural America is in a transition state,” Hough said from his office in Pocatello, the county seat, in July.
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Hough → say → July
“How do we make or help rural America…transition to this new way of life, so that they can thrive and prosper?”
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they → make → life
Not everyone shares Hough’s vision of prosperity.
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everyone → share → prosperity
In south Bannock County, Hough’s campaign has met with fierce opposition.
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campaign → meet → opposition
Two camps exist: On one side are residents who are willing to lease their own land to solar energy developers or stand by their neighbors’ right to do so.
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who → exist → right
On the other are those who are skeptical of renewables and believe that leasing land to developers is equivalent to selling out—many of them do, however, support nuclear.
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many → believe → nuclear
Steve Criddle, a third-generation farmer and lifelong resident of south Bannock County, voiced his support for solar in 2024 before the ban passed.
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ban → voice → 2024
He described the situation today simply: “It’s confrontational.”
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It → describe → situation
Bannock County’s moratorium on solar and wind stemmed from an unlikely source: Hough himself.
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moratorium → stem → source
It was the fall of 2023, and he had just attended a conference of the Idaho Association of Counties in Boise.
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he → attend → Boise
At the conference, the Lava Ridge Wind Project, a 1 GW development slated for more than 57,000 acres of federal land in southern Idaho, dominated the conversation.
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Project → slat → conversation
County leaders from around the state were concerned about clean energy developers running roughshod over their communities.
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developers → concern → communities
(President Donald Trump’s Interior Department canceled Lava Ridge in August 2025.)
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Department → cancel → August
…and 218 more, not listed.
The Aporia
