News that the Bureau of Land Management is looking at 24 sites nationwide on which to ‘fast track’ commercial-scale solar projects has some elated and others nonchalant.
The areas, in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah (map here) were initially evaluated on a strict set of parameters: at least 2,000 acres of federally managed land with the appropriate slope to collect maximum solar radiation, as well as proximity to either transmission lines or utility rights-of-way. All were selected because they are not under wilderness status, do not contain critical habitat, and are not currently used for oil or gas drilling, mining, grazing or logging.
One of the areas selected is in La Paz County, near Yuma, Arizona. Yuma lies in the southernmost portion of La Paz, just across the border from Mexico. Studies will also be conducted in Maricopa County, about 20 miles southwest of Phoenix, and Yavapai County, north of Prescott.
The area - from Yuma to Phoenix and Tucson – has long been viewed as Arizona’s ‘solar corridor’ for developing utility-scale solar power, and a recent private land auction designed to lure solar developers to the area netted Maricopa County $2.6 million, according to land broker Vermaland Inc., which is still looking to sell 3,600 acres in the county closer to Yuma.
Lori Cook, public affairs specialist for the Bureau of Land Management's Yuma Field Office, said that currently they have received 13 solar energy site lease applications in the Yuma Field Office Boundaries, all listed in Maricopa County.
Julie Engel, the CEO of the Greater Yuma Economic Development Corp., said the studies will likely have no economic impact on Yuma County itself, but the June 8 announcement of NextLight’s plans for a larger solar-thermal facility for the county put paid to that argument.
NextLight is the solar installer named in the BLM’s (Dept. of the Interior) news release, and the Yuma County installation, which could cost as much as $1.5 billion, will deliver between 280 and 330 megawatts.
Solar Energy Industries Association head Rhone Resch, who pointed out the 7,000 oil and gas permits issued on BLM lands in 2007, as opposed to zero solar energy permits, applauded Salazar’s commitment to clear the backlog in commercial-scale solar permitting.