In a sign that solar industry and its political allies are starting to flex some real power, the federal government reversed course Wednesday and announced it would continue to accept new applications to build solar power plants on government land while developing an environmental policy for assessing the projects.
Green Wombat had been off the grid on holiday the past week and so was surprised to log back on to find the mainstream media and blogosphere ablaze over the Bush administration’s supposed move last month to halt big solar power plant projects in California’s Mojave Desert and elsewhere.
“Citing Need for Assessments, U.S. Freezes Solar Energy Projects,” read the headline on The New York Times story about the Bureau of Land Management’s decision to temporarily stop accepting new applications for solar power plants until it studies the environmental impact of industrializing the desert. “How to strangle an industry,” proclaimed Grist, a respected green policy blog about the move. Solar executives and politicians meanwhile slammed the BLM and predicted dark days for renewable energy. “This could completely stunt the growth of the industry,” the Times quoted Ausra exec Holly Gordon.
Problem is, those stories were dead wrong: The feds did not freeze a single solar power plant project currently under review. What was left unsaid, or just briefly mentioned, was the fact that the BLM is continuing to process the 125 solar power plant proposals already in the hopper. Those lease applications cover nearly a million acres for solar power plants that would produce 60 gigawatts of electricity if all are built, which they won’t be. Those projects alone will keep companies like Ausra, BrightSource Energy, FPL (FPL) and PG&E (PCG) busy for years to come, moratorium or not.
“We don’t even like to call it a moratorium,” says Alan Stein, a deputy district manager for the BLM in California. Stein called me on my mobile just as I was about to step into a kayak at Elkhorn Slough near Big Sur. I had spent several months talking to Stein and other BLM officials while criss-crossing the Mojave with solar energy executives for a forthcoming Fortune story and he seemed taken aback by the tone of the media coverage.
But the higher-ups in Washington got the message. “We heard the concerns expressed during the scoping period about waiting to consider new applications, and we are taking action,” said BLM Director James Caswell in a statement. “By continuing to accept and process new applications for solar energy projects, we will aggressively help meet growing interest in renewable energy sources while ensuring environmental protections.”
The head of the solar industry’s trade group, the Solar Energy Industries Association, declared victory. But SEIA president Rhone Resch complained in a statement that, “BLM has only resolved half the problem. They have yet to approve a single solar energy project. Expediting the permitting process is the next step in developing solar energy projects on federal lands.”
He’s right that the process – which is intertwined with California’s extensive environmental review of projects in that part of the Mojave – takes far too long. But developing a desert-wide environmental policy is absolutely essential for huge power plants that in total would cover hundreds of square miles of a fragile landscape home to protected wildlife and rare plants. Otherwise, watch each individual project get bogged down in endless environmental challenges.
What really threatens the nascent solar industry right now is not the BLM. Rather it’s the imminent expiration of the 30 percent investment tax credit that all these solar energy startups and their investors – which include companies such as Google (GOOG) and Morgan Stanley (MS) – are depending on make Big Solar economically viable. Congress has failed several times in recent months to extend the tax credit, which expires at the end of the year. If only solar energy execs and their supporters in Washington could exert the same influence on recalcitrant Republicans as they have on the BLM.
Green Wombat 
You seem to imply that the Republicans are the problem. Those keen on politics know that the Democrats currently control congress and that the tree huggers preventing progress are all liberal Democrats as well.
Get with the program. If there’s a problem, it MUST be the Democrats fault. I heard it on the radio so it must be true.
Todd, I wonder of you could answer this related question:
is there a need for this sunrise power link to bring all these green projects online to CA – or is that really just a fossil fuel astroturf group wanting to pass it to bring more gas to San Diego?
http://www.cleanreliableenergy.org/index.cfm
Hi Susan. San Diego Gas & Electric and Stirling Energy Systems (the solar energy company with a contract to sell up to 900 megawatts of electricity to SDG&E) say that the Sunrise Powerlink is needed to transmit electricity from Stirling’s planned 450-megawatt solar power station as well as future projects. Other solar power stations in the Mojave will rely on existing transmission or upgrades to the lines.
Well looks like Stirling finally applied with the California Energy Commission to build in the Imperial Valley. I wish them luck because I feel they will need it. They claim they are the most efficient solar technology yet they use about twice as much land per MW as current solar thermal plants. I also don’t see how they will be able to use any type of energy storage. I feel that for solar to ever be in any way significant this would be essential. They do have the advantage of not needing cooling water but will still need a smaller amount for mirror wash.
The Democrats could renew the credits without Republican support. However, the Republicans could not renew the credits without the support of Democrats.
It all rests upon the will of the Democrats now. They must choose between the conflicting goals of the Environment and energy.
Everyone on Capitol Hill is crooked, not just the republicans as the “i’m better than everybody” democrats would say. I believe that every one in Washington has become too greedy for the good of this country and that we need a complete overhaul of the entire system. A diverse group that respects everyone and the environment in this country. A group that won’t want to throw a child in jail because he/she wants to pray at school or a group that is tired of being “politically correct” because they might hurt some feelings.
More smoke and mirrors by BUSH to aid big oil – wait till you find out who owns all the new power plants that will be needed in the future – consider going all electric with all your power needs then you can own your own power production equipment and kiss the pols and big oil and big utilities goodbye forever. GTT
All politicians should be limited to 12 years in office. We need people who have useful knowledge in the government and who try to do the right thing instead of just staying in office.