Solar Energy Industries Association’s Post

#NewsIE | 📢 The U.S.D.I Bureau Of Land Management published final rules to govern leasing and rental rates for #renewableenergy projects on public lands. The final rules closely follow recommendations from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). They will (1) Reduce rents and fees for renewable #energyprojects through 2035 and eliminate duplicative payments for renewable energy developers; (2) Extend lease terms for renewable projects to 50 years; (3) Remove competitive leasing requirements in priority development areas; and (4) Make it easier to develop standalone energy storage projects on public lands. Abby Hopper, president and CEO of SEIA on BLM’s final rules, says “Today the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) codified SEIA’s recommendations to make it faster, easier, and cheaper to build clean energy projects on public lands. We need to pull every lever we can to efficiently deploy clean energy, and our nation’s public lands remain an untapped resource. BLM’s new rules are a smart step forward and will help to reverse decades of preferential treatment for fossil fuel interests". ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dwvfCCeE FYI: Misty Chioffe, Stephanie Bosh, Petra Hoke, Jen Bristol, Jennifer Cangelosi, Justin Baca, Gilbert Campbell, Gizelle Wray, Alyssa Edwards, Kelsey Hopkins, MPA, Laura Stern, Jessica Lawrence-Vaca, Scott Hughes, Melissa Alfano

Of particular relevance to BLM’s final rule, Title IV of CETA incorporates Levin’s Public Land Renewable Energy Deployment Act (H.R. 178). The title directs the Department of Interior to permit at least 60 gigawatts of renewable energy on public lands by 2030 and responsibly incentivizes this development on priority areas, while minimizing the adverse impacts to communities and the environment. https://lnkd.in/eFku_xgq

Solar and wind have a significant role to play in energy policy, but if we override local zoning authorities, we risk losing the pulse on what communities support. Ultimately, this will not lead to the most efficient resource allocation.

Two upcoming decisions by Ohio’s top court could give local opponents more power to block clean energy projects in a state that already has stringent siting regulations. The Ohio Supreme Court will decide if local opposition alone can lead the Ohio Power Siting Board to reject a project that otherwise meets all statutory criteria. These rulings will likely influence future regulatory decisions, and clean energy industry and environmental advocates are concerned about the potential impact on energy development. Most power plants, solar farms, and wind farms in Ohio require approval from the Ohio Power Siting Board before construction and operation. https://lnkd.in/et5F9AjB #CleanEnergy #RenewableEnergy #EnergyDevelopment #SolarFarms #WindFarms #SustainableEnergy #OhioPowerSitingBoard 

Final Regulations Enact SEIA’s Recommendations to Reduce Costs and Expedite Renewable Energy Advancement on Public Lands Today, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released final regulations overseeing leasing and rental rates for renewable energy ventures on public lands. These regulations closely align with suggestions from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) to simplify the advancement of clean energy initiatives on federal territories. The finalized regulations will: Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of SEIA, issued the following statement: “Today the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) codified SEIA’s recommendations to make it faster, easier, and cheaper to build clean energy projects on public lands. We need to pull every lever we can to efficiently deploy […] Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/dstVT8aA #solarenergy #alternativeenergy #solarpv #pvsolar #photovoltaic #cleanenergy #cleantech #climatechange #middleeast #africa #india #asiapacific #asia #northamerica #renewableenergy #renewableenergy #seia #solarenergy #unitedstates

Anyone feel like their zoning authority is being run over? The Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act in New York overrides local zoning authorities by allowing the Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) to preempt local laws if they are deemed "unreasonably burdensome" to renewable energy projects. This means that ORES can set aside local zoning ordinances that hinder the development of large-scale renewable energy facilities, streamlining the approval process and ensuring that state-level renewable energy goals can be met efficiently. Perhaps a reaction to the increased level of resistance to large-scale solar and wind facilities. Robert Bryce - a thoughtful energy commentator for decades - writes about this in the attached article. Zoning authorities are the most distributed and local forum in which communities can work out how they want to participate in the energy transition. If we are going to allocate resources in the most ‘sustainable’ way, we need to pay attention to what communities want and are prepared to support

Today the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published final rules to govern leasing and rental rates for #renewableenergy projects on public lands. The final rules closely follow recommendations from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) to streamline clean energy development on federal lands. The new rules will: Reduce rents and fees for renewable energy projects through 2035 and eliminate duplicative payments for renewable energy developers; Extend lease terms for renewable projects to 50 years; Remove competitive leasing requirements in priority development areas; and Make it easier to develop standalone energy storage projects on public lands. Following is a statement from Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of SEIA on BLM’s final rules:  “Today the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) codified SEIA’s recommendations to make it faster, easier, and cheaper to build #cleanenergy projects on public lands. We need to pull every lever we can to efficiently deploy clean energy, and our nation’s public lands remain an untapped resource. BLM’s new rules are a smart step forward and will help to reverse decades of preferential treatment for #fossilfuel interests. “We commend BLM for working alongside the #solar and #storage industry to deliver thoughtful rules that will help us strengthen the grid and deliver reliable #cleanenergy to more consumers. We will continue to push for pragmatic solutions that will help us achieve our ambitious clean energy goals.”

The Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center and National Renewable Energy Laboratory collaborated to create a report on County Land-Use Regulations for Solar Energy Development in Colorado over the past year. The results of this collaboration are found in this report: https://lnkd.in/gsv9eCWw For all those looking into solar siting in Colorado, especially those looking into the proposed legislation around solar siting permitting in our state, this document is comprehensive in its review and mapping out the solar-siting regulations on farmland of all 64 of Colorado's Counties. Western Resource Advocates / Colorado Solar and Storage Association (COSSA) / Interwest Energy Alliance / The Nature Conservancy / Center for the New Energy Economy. Thanks so much to our colleague and lead author Allison Jackson for making this report her passion over the past year, and thanks to the main authors Kate Doubleday, Ph.D. and Brittany Staie for all the code reviews, writing, and editing they both did. We hope this work helps provide all those interested in #solar #solardevelopment in Colorado a better view of how our counties currently regulate solar siting and permitting. #Agrivoltaics and #ecovoltaics are certainly means to support the rollout of solar throughout our state! Thanks to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign team that published a similar report on Illinois' counties more than a year ago that helped inspire this work.

GOOD NEWS! The Bureau of Land Management released its final Renewable Energy Rule today, which, together with the Western Solar Plan, will help facilitate the responsible buildout of renewable energy projects on public lands in pursuit of the administration's nationwide goal of 100 percent clean electricity by 2035. This is ONE of a series of admin actions signaling a shift toward a holistic conservation and climate-centric approach to managing public lands. https://lnkd.in/g_sA3uvf