More than 140 U.S. solar companies are calling on Congress to overturn recent federal permitting changes that they say have effectively created “a nearly complete moratorium” on solar project approvals.

In an open letter addressed to the Senate and House of Representatives, 143 solar developers, component suppliers, and manufacturers urged lawmakers to revise a July memo issued by Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. The memo imposes heightened scrutiny on solar project permits involving federal lands or any Department of the Interior (DOI) resources.

The signatories described the directive as “unduly discriminatory and unprecedented government overreach,” asking Congress to work with the DOI to revoke it.

Under the memo, all solar and wind permits connected to the DOI must receive approval from the Secretary’s personal office. The scope extends far beyond federal land installations:

· Private-land projects requiring access or rights-of-way across public lands

These requirements do not apply to non-renewable energy projects, prompting concerns about unequal treatment.

In October, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and four other Democratic lawmakers expressed worries in a letter to Burgum, noting that the policy appeared “meant to intentionally hinder the deployment of renewable energy projects on our public lands.”

Outgoing SEIA President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper warned that, without corrective action, the solar industry will continue to encounter serious deployment and investment barriers “at a time of skyrocketing energy demand.”

SEIA recently cautioned that as many as 500 U.S. solar projects—representing up to 116 GW of planned capacity—are at risk due to permitting delays at the local, state, and federal levels, leaving them in regulatory “limbo.”