the council of state governments

nov 2012

CAPITOL facts & figures

energy & environment

Major Federal Goals Achieved for Siting Renewable Energy Projects and the Challenges Ahead
The U.S. Department of the Interior in October passed an important milestone in approving renewable energy projects on public lands a full three years ahead of objectives set forth by federal law. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Oct. 9, 2012, announced approval for the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy project located in southern Wyoming. With that approval, the Obama administration passed the benchmark of approving siting for 10,000 megawatts of renewable energy projects.1 According to a fact sheet provided by the Bureau of Land Management, the 220,000-acre project will feature 1,000 wind turbines with a capacity to generate up to 3,000 megawatts of electricity, which is enough power for 1 million homes. Obstacles remain, however, for fully implementing these and other renewable projects from preliminary stages to actual operation and connection to the grid. Detractors of large, commercial-scale renewable energy projects on public land often raise concerns over the potentially harmful impacts to endangered species and essential habitat associated with the technologies employed and the significant amount of land required for projects. When considering construction and siting of electric transmission power lines, state and federal regulators face difficult questions about how to bring renewable energy generated in remote areas to the markets where power is needed.

Transmission Obstacles and Needs

The need for electricity infrastructure overall is staggering. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, up to $1.5 trillion will be needed by 2030 to maintain, modernize and update the nations electric generation, transmission and distribution systems.3 State renewable portfolio standards, federal planning directives and concerns about greenhouse gas emissions have driven strong interest in alternative energy projects, as well as their integration into the electric grid. The challengeespecially in the western U.S.is that ideal locations for generating commercial-scale renewable energy projects are located in rural areas many miles away from distribution and load centers, which will require several thousand miles of new electric transmission lines.4 Determining the rationale for who pays for those new lines has been a source of contentious debate, especially when multiple states are involved. A March 2012 report by the Edison Electric Institute, the umbrella organization representing investorowned utilities, said its members are in the midst of

Authority and Siting Trends

Section 211 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 included a nonbinding goal to urge the Secretary of the Interior to have approved non-hydropower renewable energy projects located on the public lands with a generation capacity of at least 10,000 megawatts of electricity within 10 years.2 Before 2009, the Bureau of Land Management had never approved a solar project on public land, and up to that time only limited amounts of wind and geothermal projects had been sited. Approvals since 2009 have included 6,126 megawatts of solar energy, 3,863 megawatts of wind energy and 425 megawatts of geothermal power, for a total of 10,413 megawatts of additional capacity.

implementing 13,000 miles of transmission line additions and upgrades to integrate renewables, reflecting upward of $49 billion in company investments.5 According to a 2012 study by the Western Governors Association, state policies are expected to double the amount of renewable energy produced in the West by 2022. The report went on to say, Integrating these resources into a reliable and affordable power system will require an unprecedented level of cooperative action within the electric industry and between the industry and state, subregional and federal entities.6 CSG created a Transmission Line Site Compact Advisory Panel, under the auspices of the National Center for Interstate Compacts, to facilitate the development of regional interstate compacts intended to improve coordination among stakeholders in the siting and permitting process for interstate projects.

project sited by the Bureau of Land Management on the grounds that it did not consider other alternatives as required under the National Environmental Policy Act to avoid up to 64 golden eagle deaths per year.8 Pressures to find enough habitat for endangered or threatened species, due to the large footprint needed for some utility projects, have caused significant problems and delays. For example, the discovery of an endangered species of desert tortoise on the site of a $2.2 billion solar project in California delayed construction and cost more than $56 million in species protection and relocation expenses.9

REFERENCES
1 Bureau of Land Management. Bureau of Land Management Record of Decision Project Fact Sheet. October 9, 2012. http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wy/information/NEPA/ccsm.Par.7232.File. dat/CCSM_Factsheet.pdf 2 The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (PL 109-58), Section 211. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-109publ58/pdf/PLAW-109publ58.pdf 3 Report Card for Americas Infrastructure 2009. American Society of Civil Engineers. http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/fact-sheet/energy 4 Transmission Siting in the Western United States: Overview and Recommendations Prepared as Information to the Western Interstate Energy Board. August 2009. James Holtkamp and Mark Davidson, Holland and Hart, LLP , p. 6. http://www.dora.state.co.us/puc/projects/TransmissionSiting/ SB11-45/SitingDocuments/TransmissionSitingWesternUS_forWIEB08-2009.pdf 5 Transmission Projects: At a Glance. March 2012. Edison Electric Institute, p. xiii http://www.eei.org/ourissues/ElectricityTransmission/Documents/Trans_Project_lowres.pdf 6 Meeting Renewable Energy Targets in the West at Least Cost: The Integration Challenge. June 10, 2012. Western Governors Association, p. 1. http://www.westgov.org/reports?start=4 7 Towers, Turbines, Power Lines, and Buildings Steps Being Taken by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to Avoid or Minimize Take of Migratory Birds at These Structures. October 2009 Albert Manville, Division of Migratory Bird Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service. P, 268. http://www.partnersinflight.org/pubs/mcallenproc/articles/pif09_anthropogenic%20impacts/manville_pif09.pdf 8 Some Conservation Groups Fret Over Interiors Approval of Massive Wyo. Wind Farm. Scott Streater, Greenwire. October 10, 2012. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2012/10/10/12 9 Saving Desert Tortoises is a Costly Hurdle for Solar Projects. Julie Cart, Los Angeles Times. March 4, 2012. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/04/local/la-me-solar-tortoise-20120304

Environmental and Conservation Group Concerns

Environmental groups like the American Bird Conservancy have expressed opposition to certain large wind farm projects they believe do not properly mitigate injuring or killing bird populationsparticularly species of eagles, songbirds, sage grouse and water fowl. This group and others often cite a 2009 paper from a U.S Fish and Wildlife Service official that estimated wind turbines kill up to 440,000 birds per year.7 The conservancy and the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance have opposed the most recent wind

Brydon Ross, CSG Director of Energy & Environmental Policy | bross@csg.org

Renewable Energy Projects Approved by the Bureau of Land Management since 2009
state arizona california california california california california california california california california california california california california california california nevada nevada nevada nevada nevada nevada nevada nevada nevada nevada nevada nevada Project name sonoran solar Project imperial valley solar Project lucerne valley solar Project ivanpah solar electric generating system calico solar energy Project Blythe solar Power Project genesis solar energy abengoa mojave solar c solar south Desert sunlight solar farm c solar West rice solar energy centinela solar energy campo verde solar Project tule Wind energy Project ocotillio express Wind energy facility silver state solar energy Project amargosa farm road solar Project cresent Dunes solar Project moapa solar Project spring valley Wind Project salt Wells #1 geothermal Project Blue mountain geothermal Power Plant Jersey valley geothermal Project coyote canyon geothermal Project mcginness hills geothermal Project hot sulfur springs/tuscarora geothermal salt Wells geothermal Project salt Wells (gradient resources) geothermal Project lime Wind energy Project West Butte Wind echanis Wind/north steens transmission chokecherry and sierra madre Wind energy Project capacity (megawatts, mW) 300 mW 709 mW 45 mW 370 mW 663.5 mW 1,000 mW 250 mW 250 mW 200 mW 550 mW 250 mW 150 mW 275 mW 139 mW 186 mW 315 mW 50 mW 464 mW 110 mW 350 mW 150 mW 18 mW 49 mW 30 mW 62 mW 90 mW 15 mW 40 mW Blm Project acerage 4,000 6,360 516 3,472 4,604 7,025 4,640 0 (connected action) 0 (connected action) 4,165 0 (connected action) 0 (connected action) 0 (connected action) 0 (connected action) 12,133 (connected action) 10,151 618 4,350 1,600 2,000 (tribal land) 7,673 3,794 5,252 (connected action) 7,460 (connected action) 3,960 7,680 0 (connected action) 6,948 approval Date 12/20/11 10/5/10 10/5/10 10/17/10 10/20/10 10/22/10 11/4/10 7/11/11 7/14/11 8/9/11 8/23/11 12/8/11 12/28/11 9/26/12 12/20/11 5/11/12 10/12/10 11/15/10 12/20/10 6/21/12 10/15/10 apr-09 10/22/09 6/4/10 3/7/11 7/11/11 7/29/11 9/28/11 operational Date Pending power purchase agreement Project terminated at developer request Pending power purchase agreement may 2013 nov. 2013 Development plan being revised march 2014 spring 2013 June 2013 nov. 2014 Jan. 2015 2014 2013 end of 2013 end of 2013 Dec. 2012 in operation, may 2012 Pending power purchase agreement Dec. 2013 end of 2013 in operation, June 2012 in operation in operation in operation Pending exploration wells end of 2012 nov. 2012 Dec. 2014

nevada oregon oregon oregon Wyoming

120 mW 4 mW 100 mW 104 mW 3,000 mW

15,622 3 0 (connected action) 0 (connected action) 102,207

9/8/11 12/17/09 7/14/11 12/28/11 10/9/12

Dec. 2014 in operation, november 2011 end of 2014 end of 2013 end of 2014

Table Source:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/energy/renewable_energy/Renewable_Energy_Projects_Approved_to_Date.html 25-Oct-12