The plan would make 31 million acres of public lands within the U.S. West accessible for doable photo voltaic vitality growth.
It might revise current tips from 2012, increasing photo voltaic tasks to government-owned lands in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming — along with Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah the place photo voltaic tasks may already be constructed.
Of the 31 million acres recognized within the plan, lands can be accessible to be used provided that they’re inside 15 miles of an current or deliberate high-voltage energy line or if they’ve been categorized as “beforehand disturbed.”
“The up to date Western Photo voltaic Plan is a accountable, pragmatic technique for growing photo voltaic vitality on our nation’s public lands that helps nationwide clear vitality targets and long-term nationwide vitality safety,” BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning mentioned in a press release.
On the similar time, this system would intention to “enhance the photo voltaic vitality undertaking software course of” by proactively excluding areas the place protections can be needed and by sustaining some site-specific flexibility.
The proposed technique, Bureau of Land Administration (BLM) Director Stone-Manning mentioned, would “drive accountable photo voltaic growth to places with fewer potential conflicts whereas serving to the nation transition to a clear vitality economic system.”
Learn extra from our colleague Sharon Udasin at TheHill.com.