BLM OKS 1ST 3 WSTRN SOLAR ZONE PLANTS IN 10 MONTHS

Feds fast-track approval for 3 solar power farms

Timothy Cama, June 1, 2015 The Hill

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has approved the first three solar projects permitted under the Western Solar Plan, which pre-identified 19 Solar Energy Zones (SEZs) and set up streamlined permitting that allowed the projects to be processed in less than 10 months. The three Nevada sites have a total capacity of 440 MW and will be built by Invenergy, First Solar, and NV Energy. The companies won project rights in a June 2014 auction that brought the federal government a cumulative $5.8 million in leasing fees. Thoughtful planning at the landscape level and upfront public participation were keys to streamlining bureaucratic procedures and getting reduced permitting times that will make solar development in the six-state SEZs more attractive to developers, according to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. click here for more

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