The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced an update to its 2012 plan for solar power development in the western U.S., adding five states to the original six. The original plan identified prime areas for solar development in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. BLM last Wednesday added Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming to the plan. The agency projected about 700,000 acres of public lands will be necessary to meet the country’s expected renewable energy needs, while the preferred BLM alternative of the six outlined in the updated plan would free up about 22 million acres.
The Biden administration last Thursday tapped 22 states and Puerto Rico to receive $623 million in grants to build electric vehicle charging and hydrogen fueling infrastructure. The grants from the Federal Highway Administration come through the $2.5 billion Charging and Fueling Infrastructure discretionary grant program. Another $5 billion is being distributed via formula grants through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program. The largest projects include $56 million to develop an electric freight corridor in California’s San Joaquin Valley along I–5.
Environmental groups have successfully pushed for a ‘green terminal’ strategy at the Port of Humboldt outside Eureka. Last Thursday, the Humboldt Bay Harbor District, which manages the port, committed to using electricity instead of diesel to power the terminal’s machinery. In the coming years, Humboldt Bay is expected to be one of the leading ports for the deployment of floating offshore wind turbines on the West Coast.
New York State has announced plans to speed up the permitting process for distributed renewable energy and transmission projects, alongside an initiative to boost access to community solar. Governor Kathy Hochul proposed the Renewable Action Through Project Interconnection and Deployment Act on January 9.
The first onshore wind project along the California coast, the Strauss Wind Energy Project near Lompoc, is now up and running, with 29 wind turbines operating and producing enough energy to power up to 40,000 homes. After more than two decades of development, the project became operational at the end of December and is now delivering power to the state grid.
Scale Microgrids has entered into a definitive agreement with Gutami to acquire 500 MW of distributed solar and storage projects across multiple states, including California and New York. Building on their existing 100 MW New York partnership, the companies have executed an expansion agreement under which Gutami will develop 500 MW of energy transition infrastructure assets, which Scale will then acquire, finance, and own.
BLM will open a public information forum in order to collect public feedback on a proposed 400 MW solar park project in Nevada. Pantheon Solar LLC has applied for a right-of-way grant for the construction and operation of the 400 MW solar park in a solar variance area on roughly 2,682 acres of BLM-managed land in White Pine County. Its proposal comes with a battery energy storage component with a capacity of up to 950 MW.
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