The Department of Interior announced an initiative to speed the development of utility-scale solar energy development in the western United States by identifying prime Solar Energy Study Areas. The effort identifies two dozen study areas that encompass 670,000 acres in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. The designated tracts will receive funding for environmental studies and a coordinated effort by federal agencies to speed review of industry proposals. The federal funding comes under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The study areas that are currently being evaluated could generate as much as 100,00 megawatts of solar electricity. These areas are undergoing landscape-scale planning and zoning with environmental impact assessments and resource suitability studies. Maps of these study areas are now available online in PDF format.
As part of the effort, these areas will be removed from mining claims and other actons for two years. This moratorium on other uses will give the BLM time to complete environmental review. Evaluation of these areas is expected to be completed in late 2010.
The Interior Department continues to work with the Western Governors Association to develop renewable energy zones and transmission corridors.
