Biden administration pitches plan to open more federal land to solar farms

The US Interior Department has proposed a plan to allow utility-scale solar development on up to 31 million acres of public land across 11 western states in a bid to expand and improve the federal permitting process to advance the Biden administration's clean energy goals.

The Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Aug. 29 unveiled its planned update of the Obama-era Western Solar Plan. It would expand the potential development area from 22 million acres previously and direct projects to areas closer to transmission corridors and previously disturbed terrain.

Five additional states — Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming — are included in the update after the 2012 version focused on areas of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah.

The updated solar development plan comes after the Biden administration earlier this year surpassed its goal of permitting more than 25 GW of clean energy resources on public lands. Permitting, along with project interconnection, have emerged as bottlenecks for US solar developers and have sparked calls for reforms.

"The updated Western Solar Plan will help build modern, resilient energy infrastructure that creates a strong clean energy economy and protects our communities from the worsening impacts of climate change," Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Steve Feldgus said in an Aug. 29 news release. "Through extensive planning and collaboration, we're not only protecting our public lands but also ensuring that permitting for solar projects moves faster and more efficiently, avoiding conflicts and striking the right balance as we advance clean energy and safeguard the environment."

The plan excludes 131 million acres from solar applications to protect environmentally and culturally sensitive areas, leaving areas open to development that are expected to be less controversial.

BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning called the plan "a responsible, pragmatic strategy for developing solar energy on our nation's public lands that supports national clean energy goals and long-term national energy security."

The BLM expects to finalize its record of decision and amendments to its approved resource management plan in December, according to a Federal Register notice scheduled to run on Aug. 30.

Mixed reviews

Clean energy industry groups gave mixed reviews of the updated Western Solar Plan.

"While we're still reviewing the details, we're pleased to see that BLM listened to much of the solar industry's feedback and added 11 million acres to its original proposal," Ben Norris, vice president of regulatory affairs at the Solar Energy Industries Association, said in a statement.

Although the plan's increase to 31 million acres is a "step in the right direction," fossil fuel developers still have access to much more public land, he said.

"One of the fastest ways to decarbonize our grid is to greenlight well-planned clean energy development on federal lands, and the improvements to this environmental review document will certainly help," Norris added.

The American Clean Power Association, known as ACP, "recognizes flexibility added into the project design features and additional acres made available in the final plan," said Frank Macchiarola, the trade group's chief policy officer. But the ACP is concerned over the exclusion of some areas that it believes are compatible with resource protection.

"The stakes are high as energy demand rises and we work toward a clean energy future," Macchiarola said. "Inclusion of federal lands for development is a critical component in the path forward."

The ACP plans to work with the BLM and other stakeholders "to reduce unnecessary regulatory hurdles that hamper development of clean energy resources on public lands," he said.

Josh Axelrod, senior policy advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council, applauded the updated plan, calling it "an extraordinary effort by the Biden Administration to lay the groundwork for a net zero energy future that balances energy development, community concerns, wildlife impacts, and conservation."

Environmental nonprofit group The Wilderness Society also gave a favorable initial review.

"The climate crisis is at our doorstep, and we must rapidly transition to a clean energy economy — yesterday. Thankfully, our nation's public lands offer some of the best solar energy resources we've got," said Justin Meuse, The Wilderness Society's director of government relations for energy and climate.

The BLM plan "harnesses this clean and abundant resource responsibly, focuses projects away from ecologically and culturally sensitive places, honors community input, and realizes the imperative that our public lands must be part of the climate solution," he said.