The U.S. Department of the Interior announced a final renewable energy rule Thursday that is expected to pave the way for increased wind, solar and geothermal development on public lands.
The finalized rule was one of three announcements federal officials made during a press conference.
“Climate change poses an existential threat not just to our environment, but to our health, our communities and our economic well being,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said. “As we look to stem the worsening impacts of the climate crisis. We know that clean energy, including transmission lines, solar energy storage projects on public lands, is helping communities across the country to be part of the climate solution while creating good paying jobs.”
The renewable energy rule comes on the heels of the Energy Act of 2020 which gave the U.S. Bureau of Land Management the authority to reduce acreage rents and capacity fees for wind and solar projects. The BLM implemented the lower rates in 2022, but the new rule essentially codifies the rates, which are 80 percent less than rates approved in a 2016 rule. Those lower rates will be in effect through 2035. After that, the rates will transition to 20 percent less than the 2016 rule.
Laura Daniel-Davis, acting deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior, said the rule also expands the BLM’s ability to accept leasing applications in priority areas without first having to go through a full auction process, though it also “retains the BLM’s ability to hold competitive auctions where that is appropriate.”
It further includes financial incentives for developers to use products manufactured in the United States and to enter into project labor agreements.
Daniel-Davis said the final rule complements the agency’s efforts to update the Western Solar Plan.
“We’re updating the Western solar plan to include more states and streamline the BLM framework for citing solar energy projects across the West in order to support clean energy goals, long term energy security, climate resilience, and improved conservation outcomes,” she said.
BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning highlighted her agency’s role as the largest public land manager in the United States and which, as such, “plays a critical role in America’s clean energy transition.”
Stone-Manning announced that the Arica and Victory Pass solar projects, which are located in California, are now fully operational and are providing 465 megawatts of renewable energy to the grid.
Haaland also announced on Thursday that the Department of the Interior has now permitted more than 25 gigawatts of clean energy projects on federal lands. President Joe Biden had a goal of reaching that level by 2025.
According to a press release, the U.S. now has 29 gigawatts of permitted clean energy projects on public lands. That represents enough energy to power 12 million homes.
“This includes dozens of solar, wind, geothermal projects, as well as gen-tie lines (generation interconnection lines) on public lands that are essential for connecting clean electricity projects on federal and non federal land to the grid,” Haaland said during the press conference.
Additionally, Stone-Manning said that the BLM is currently processing an additional 66 clean energy projects that have been proposed on public lands in the western United States that, if they come into fruition, would provide another 32 gigawatts of renewable electricity to the grid.
“We have many more proposed projects in the queue,” Haaland said. “And I’m confident that we will continue our momentum to ensure that every family and every household across the country benefits from renewable energy.”
The 25 gigawatts that have been permitted represent a huge amount of energy, as White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi noted in his remarks.
“When we were doing great, big, massive things at the Interior Department during the peak of the (Franklin D.) Roosevelt administration, we built a Hoover Dam that was two gigawatts,” he said, adding that the permitted projects represent 10 times more electricity than the Hoover Dam.
