Feds plan to open 32M acres of public land for solar development across 11 western states

Mojave desert solar array at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. (Getty Images)

Federal land managers Thursday released an updated roadmap for solar energy development across 11 western states, a plan that opens about 32 million acres of federal lands to utility-scale solar development.

The proposal released by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, known as the Western Solar Plan, updates a decade-old plan that identifies areas with high solar potential and low resource conflicts in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, and New Mexico.

Once finalized, the plan will set the trajectory for solar energy development across the West for the next two decades.

Under the plan, about 12 million acres of public land in Nevada would be available for solar development, more than twice as much as Utah — the next most affected state included in the western plan.

The plan would allow solar developments within 15 miles of existing and planned transmission lines or designated energy corridors, including the planned Greenlink North Transmission Project — a 235-mile transmission line across rural White Pine, Eureka, Lander, Churchill, and Lyon counties. The plan would also allow solar development on previously disturbed lands beyond 15 miles of transmission lines or energy corridors.

Federal land managers hope the new updated plan will drive solar development closer to transmission lines and previously disturbed lands, while avoiding protected lands, sensitive cultural resources and important wildlife habitat.

“The updated Western Solar Plan is a responsible, pragmatic strategy for developing solar energy on our nation’s public lands that supports national clean energy goals and long-term national energy security,” said BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning in a statement .

“It will drive responsible solar development to locations with fewer potential conflicts while helping the nation transition to a clean energy economy,” he continued.

In Nevada, about 35 million acres of public land with high conflict potential would be excluded from solar development under the plan. However, several sensitive landscapes were not excluded, including about 300,000 acres across the Amargosa River Basin in Nye County.

The Amargosa River Basin is particularly vulnerable to development and overpumping . Data shows that groundwater use within the Amargosa River watershed has steadily increased over the past 25 years, due to concurrent residential development in Pahrump and thirsty agricultural operations. While solar does not require water to run, it does require water during construction to control dust emissions over large acreages.

The plan is now open for a 30-day administrative protest period, during which people and groups that have already commented on the plan can raise concerns. Governors within the 11-state planning area also have up to 60-days to identify inconsistencies with approved state or local plans, policies, or programs and to provide written recommendations to the BLM.

Solar power development on public lands is a key part of the Biden administration’s goal to achieve a 100 percent clean electricity grid by 2035.

Nationally, the BLM has permitted 62 solar projects, 68 geothermal projects, 41 wind projects, and 42 renewable energy generation interconnect projects, for a total capacity of about 32 gigawatts of electricity – enough to power about 14 million homes. The U.S. Department of Energy predicts that solar energy development across the United States will continue to increase rapidly over the next several decades.

Several rural Nevada counties are already seeing a rapid rise of solar proposals . As of June, there are 13 solar energy facilities in Nevada, covering about 20,000 acres of BLM-administered lands. In total, those facilities could generate 2,000 megawatts of electricity.

Although the plan technically opens up millions of acres of Nevada federal land for solar development, as a practical matter federal land managers estimate that by 2045, a total of about 48,000 acres of public land in Nevada will be used for utility-scale solar energy generation.

Several conservation groups in Nevada reacted to the BLM announcement Thursday with concern about the plan’s broad footprint. The Amargosa Conservancy warned the plan could jeopardize the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, a fragile wetland habitat that depends on groundwater sourced from the Amargosa River Basin.

“The Amargosa River watershed is an irreplaceable gem of the Mojave Desert, and we can’t let it be destroyed for industrial energy development,” said Ashley Lee, Board President of the Amargosa Conservancy. “We support solar energy as an important part of the clean energy transition, but it can’t come at the expense of our most special places.

“We’re concerned that the revision of the Western Solar Plan seems to continue with the usual approach, and we’re concerned that without more careful consideration, the communities and biodiversity of the Amargosa River watershed might be negatively impacted,” Lee continued.

The Center for Biological Diversity criticized the BLM for expanding the number of acres of wildlife habitat available for solar development by about 50% compared to the BLM’s original draft plan, opening more pristine landscapes to development.

“There’s room on public lands for thoughtfully sited solar energy projects. We don’t need to destroy tens of millions of acres of wildlife habitat to achieve our clean energy goals, said Randi Spivak, public lands policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

“This plan allows for death by a thousand cuts, where inappropriately sited industrial projects can proliferate across sensitive public lands throughout the West,” Spivak said.

Solar developers, however, praised the plan, saying it will help ensure responsible development, speed the permitting process, and provide greater predictability to their industry.

Ben Norris, the vice president of regulatory affairs at the Solar Energy Industries Association, said he was pleased federal land managers included many of the association’s recommendations in their final proposal, including the addition of 11 million acres to the original proposal.

“While this is a step in the right direction, fossil fuels have access to over 80 million acres of public land, 2.5 times the amount of public land available for solar,” Norris said in a statement. “One of the fastest ways to decarbonize our grid is to greenlight well-planned clean energy development on federal lands, and the improvements to this environmental review document will certainly help.”