"Capital Control: States Strip Power From Cities, Counties"

"Climate change and the energy transition are driving a wave of state laws overriding local governments, with both parties driving their preferred policies."

"Michigan’s rural counties were blocking solar energy projects, so Democratic state lawmakers quashed the opposition by passing new statewide standards.

Local opposition was mounting against data centers in West Virginia, so the Republican-dominated Legislature stripped local governments of the power to limit them “in any way.”

And across more than half the country, states have forbidden cities and counties from banning natural gas in buildings — including, most recently, in Democratic-controlled Maine."

Adam Aton and Jeffrey Tomich report for E&E News April 15, 2026.