Obama approves utility PV roadmap
As part of President Obama's all-of-the-above energy strategy to expand domestic energy production, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has finalized a program for spurring development of solar energy on public lands in six western states. The Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for solar energy development provides a blueprint for utility-scale solar energy permitting in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah by establishing solar energy zones with access to existing or planned transmission, incentives for development within those zones, and a process through which to consider additional zones and solar projects.
The action builds on the Administration's historic progress to facilitate renewable energy development. On Tuesday, with the authorization of the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project site in Wyoming, Interior reached the President's goal of authorizing 10,000 megawatts of renewable power on public lands. Since 2009, Interior has authorized 33 renewable energy projects, including 18 utility-scale solar facilities, 7 wind farms and 8 geothermal plants, with associated transmission corridors and infrastructure. When built, these projects will provide enough electricity to power more than 3.5 million homes, and support 13,000 construction and operations jobs according to project developer estimates.
"Energy from sources like wind and solar have doubled since the President took office, and with this milestone, we are laying a sustainable foundation to keep expanding our nation's domestic energy resources," said Secretary Salazar, who signed the Record of Decision at an event in Las Vegas, Nevada with Senator Harry Reid. "This historic initiative provides a roadmap for landscape-level planning that will lead to faster, smarter utility-scale solar development on public lands and reflects President Obama's commitment to grow American made energy and create jobs."
The Solar PEIS establishes an initial set of 17 Solar Energy Zones (SEZs), totaling about 285,000 acres of public lands, that will serve as priority areas for commercial-scale solar development, with the potential for additional zones through ongoing and future regional planning processes. If fully built out, projects in the designated areas could produce as much as 23,700 megawatts of solar energy, enough to power approximately 7 million American homes. The program also keeps the door open, on a case-by-case basis, for the possibility of carefully sited solar projects outside SEZs on about 19 million acres in "variance" areas. The program also includes a framework for regional mitigation plans, and to protect key natural and cultural resources the program excludes a little under 79 million acres that would be inappropriate for solar development based on currently available information.
"The Solar PEIS sets forth an enduring, flexible blueprint for developing utility-scale solar projects in the right way, and in the right places, on our public lands," said David J. Hayes, Deputy Secretary of the Interior. "Never before has the Interior Department worked so closely and collaboratively with the industry, conservationists and sportsmen alike to develop a sound, long-term plan for generating domestic energy from our nation's sun-drenched public lands."
The signing of the Record of Decision follows the July release of the Final PEIS, a comprehensive analysis done in partnership with the Department of Energy that identified locations on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands most suitable for solar energy development. These areas are characterized by excellent solar resources, access to existing or planned transmission and relatively low conflict with biological, cultural and historic resources.
"We are proud to be a part of this initiative to cut through red tape and accelerate the development of America's clean, renewable energy," said Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. "There is a global race to develop renewable energy technologies"”and this effort will help us win this race by expanding solar energy production while reducing permitting costs."
The action is in line with the President's direction to continue to expand domestic energy production, safely and responsibly. Since President Obama took office, domestic oil and gas production has increased each year, with domestic oil production at an eight-year high, natural gas production at an all-time high, and foreign oil imports now accounting for less than 50 percent of the oil consumed in America "“ the lowest level since 1995.
"We thank the Department of the Interior and the Department of Energy for finalizing the process for solar energy development on public lands. We hope that this decision results in a permitting process that brings more solar online to serve the American people," said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of SEIA. "The U.S. Southwest is home to some of the best solar resources in the world. It's a region universally-recognized for its ability to enhance our energy security. The Administration set a goal to permit 10 gigawatts of additional renewable energy projects on public lands by the end of this year. The U.S. solar industry is ready to meet that challenge. Major solar projects are under construction in the Southwest right now, increasing and diversifying our domestic energy supply, while delivering clean power and creating jobs.
"The PEIS identifies a process that has the potential to accommodate well-sited solar power plants outside of designated Solar Energy Zones and protects the rights of pending solar applications. The Bureau of Land Management must ensure pending projects do not get bogged down in more bureaucratic processes," added Resch.
"Balancing the growing demand for domestically-produced solar energy with conservation objectives is not an easy task. We are appreciative of the Departments' efforts to gather input from all stakeholders. We look forward to working with them to refine the process for permitting solar power plants and transmission in the West, with the hope that new solar projects will move forward in the near future," said Shannon Eddy, executive director of LSA.
