Nick Josefowitz is founder and chief executive of Permit Power, a national nonprofit that advocates to make it easier for residential customers to install solar, batteries and other energy upgrades.
American families are rightly frustrated that their electricity bills have been rising too high and too quickly. As policymakers search for ways to respond to growing power demand and mounting affordability pressure, they are overlooking one of the fastest, most practical tools states control: cutting the red tape that makes rooftop solar and home batteries slower and more expensive to install.
That is the core finding of a new scorecard report from Environment America that examines permitting and inspection rules for residential solar and batteries in all 50 states. These requirements dictate whether a family can install home solar and storage quickly and affordably, or whether they get stuck in a slow and expensive bureaucratic quagmire.
Compared to peer countries like Australia, this is not an area where the United States shines. Only California and Texas earned a B. New Jersey and Colorado earned a C. Every other state got a D or an F.
This status quo is broken. Most home solar and battery projects are simple and routine. But instead of being approved quickly and consistently, they are too often subject to fragmented local rules, duplicative reviews, unclear standards, multiple inspections and avoidable delays.
For example, cities like Jersey City, New Jersey, require four separate applications followed by in-person meetings which can take several months. Others like Boulder, Colorado, require an assessment of the historical character before allowing a family to install solar. Many cities like Scarsdale, New York, can block a home solar system on aesthetic grounds.
In Baltimore, Maryand, delays prevented families from installing solar in time to qualify for the federal clean energy tax credit that expired at the end of 2025 — costing thousands of dollars in lost incentives and energy bill savings.
There is a real cost when families have to navigate outdated approval systems for weeks or months. The “time tax” imposed by permitting and inspection red tape adds $6,000 to $7,000 to the sticker prices of the typical rooftop solar system and leads many consumers to simply give up on the installation process. According to the National Laboratory of the Rockies, one in five home solar projects that begin the permitting process are canceled and installers cite permitting delays as the biggest reason for the cancellations.
This is an energy affordability problem, and solving it would deliver huge benefits. Almost 70% of Americans say energy expenses are straining their finances. If the United States cut state-level red tape and brought the cost of solar in line with peer countries, by 2040 we'd see 18 million more families installing solar, resulting in $1.2 trillion in utility bill savings and nearly 200 additional GW of new electricity generation.
Unlike many aspects of the energy affordability crisis, the hurdles stopping families from installing home solar and batteries are firmly in the control of state governments. States can set minimum standards for local governments and utilities to streamline permitting, inspection and interconnection. These common-sense reforms can be made at virtually no cost to taxpayers or ratepayers.
State leaders who are serious about lowering utility bills are embracing these policies. In New Jersey and Virginia, energy affordability was top of the agenda in last November’s elections. Cutting home solar and battery red tape has been a key plank of New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s energy affordability plan, and Virginia legislators have already sent a bill to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk to streamline permitting for home solar and battery projects in the state.
Cutting red tape is also popular with voters. Recent surveys, including a November 2025 survey of New Yorkers and a national poll conducted by the Solar Energy Industries Association, have shown that significant majorities of voters from across the ideological spectrum support home solar, and support a set of policies that would make it cheaper and easier to install.
Families do not need their local government or utility putting up more barriers between them and lower energy bills. For state lawmakers looking for a concrete, near-term way to help consumers save money, cutting home solar and battery red tape and allowing families to take back control of their energy costs should be on their list.
