The greening of red-state America, well under way in the Sun Belt, is now accelerating in the Midwest. Ohio and Indiana — two Republican-led U.S. states long dependent on coal power — are on the verge of solar-farm booms so staggering that their respective build-outs between now and 2027 may vie with Nevada’s and trail only those of California and Texas.
Developers are expected to install 15 gigawatts’ worth of new photovoltaic panels in the two states, enough to power about 12 million households. That’s happening even as Ohio has moved to slow, if not thwart, renewable energy projects.
No Republican members of Congress — a group that includes the majority of members from Indiana and Ohio — voted to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, U.S. President Joe Biden’s climate law that ushered in hundreds of billions of dollars in incentives for clean energy.