The Biden administration said Monday it will begin the process of identifying new areas for solar energy development in the western United States to increase permitting for clean energy projects on public lands to combat climate change. The Interior Department said in a statement that its Bureau of Land Management is updating an Obama-era plan that established special zones for solar projects based on access to transmission, solar energy potential and protection of natural and cultural resources.
The agency said the new plan will reflect advances in solar technology, new transmissions and ambitious Clean Power Management goals. It could also expand beyond the six states included in the 2012 plan, Interior said. The six were: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. President Joe Biden wants to decarbonize America’s electric grid by 2035, which will require the rapid deployment of large amounts of new solar power. Specifically, the interior has a congressional mandate to allow 25 gigawatts of renewable energy on federal lands by 2025.
The agency said it is beginning a review of three new projects in Arizona that would add a gigawatt of power to the grid. Under Biden, Interior has sought to address concerns from wind and solar companies that public land is less development-friendly than private land because of higher costs and more difficult permitting. “The Bureau of Land Management is working diligently to ensure its processes and pace maintain the momentum we’re seeing in the industry,” Interior Principal Assistant Secretary for Lands and Minerals Laura Daniel-Davis said in a statement. Shannon Eddy, president of the Large Scale Solar Association, an industry trade group, said in an email that she “hopes the new process can lead to more avenues for solar panel placement.
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