The Law of Wind: A Guide to Business and Legal
Understand the complexities of siting and permitting wind energy projects, including federal and state regulations, environmental reviews, and
Local ordinances and zoning laws can determine the parameters of wind and solar energy projects, like the mandatory required distance from other infrastructure such as roads. Photos from iStock
Specifically, local ordinances cannot require setbacks for small wind energy systems that are greater than 150% of the system height. This distance serves as the standard setback in absence of a local ordinance stating otherwise. There are additional restrictions for wind projects in coastal zones. Local N.M. Stat. Ann. §3-21-1; §62-9-3;
While state and local ordinances for PV solar have the potential to be highly constraining to future deployment, they have not materialized to date. And while many ordinances restricting PV solar are being adopted nationwide, the degree of restriction imposed by such ordinances is generally minimal.
In our analysis of wind turbines, we found that roughly a third of ordinances governing setback distance exceeded 300 meters. However, for PV solar arrays, the setback requirements are generally far more lenient, with most having setback requirements under 100 meters.
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