Outgoing Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar, who announced this week he'll be stepping down in March, leaves a legacy of massive change on California's public lands. During his tenure since 2009, Secretary Salazar approved renewable energy facilities on more than 46,000 acres of BLM lands in California. That's in excess of 72 square miles, about the size of the city of Victorville.
Of the projects involving California BLM land approved during Salazar's tenure, only one -- the Ocotillo Express Wind Energy Facility -- is currently completed. That project, which occupies more than 10,000 acres of BLM lands in Imperial County, started delivering power to San Diego Gas & Electric in December.
Of the remaining California projects approved under Salazar, five are now under construction. Three -- the Ivanpah, Genesis, and Desert Sunlight projects -- occupy BLM lands directly, adding up to a total of 12,277 acres -- slightly less than 20 square miles. Two others -- the Abengoa Mojave plant west of Barstow and and Centinela Solar in IMperial County -- don't occupy BLM land, but the transmission and other services required to make those plants operate do, which required that the Interior Department sign off on those plants.
All told, renewable energy projects approved for California BLM lands during Salazar's term at Interior amount to just under 4,600 megawatts of generating capacity. (That's not including either the Imperial Solar Two or Lucerne Valley Solar projects, both of which were approved and then canceled by their promoters.)
A number of proposed projects on BLM lands in California, such as BrightSource Energy's Palen Solar project and NextEra's McCoy project have not yet been approved by Interior, and are not included in these totals. Also not included: rights of way for new transmission lines.
Here's a table of renewable energy projects approved by the Interior Department in California since Salazar took office. (Data here has been adapted from information provided by the BLM.)
Project Name |
Capacity (MW) | BLM Acreage | Status | Operational |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ocotillo Express Wind Energy Facility |
315 | 10,151 | In operation | Dec. 2012 |
Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (SEGS) |
370 | 3,472 | Under construction |
May 2013 |
Genesis Solar Energy Project |
250 | 4,640 | Under construction | March 2014 |
Abengoa Mojave Solar |
250 | 0 (connected action) |
Under construction |
2014 |
Desert Sunlight Solar Farm |
550 | 4,165 | Under construction |
Nov. 2014 |
Centinela Solar Energy Project |
275 | 0 (connected action) |
Under construction | 2014 |
C Solar South |
200 | 0 (connected action) |
Authorized | June 2013 |
C Solar West |
250 | 0 (connected action) |
Authorized | Jan. 2015 |
Rice Solar Energy |
150 | 0 (connected action) |
Authorized | 2014 |
Campo Verde Solar Project |
139 | 0 (connected action) |
Authorized | 2013 |
Tule Wind |
186 | 12,133 (connected action) |
Authorized | 2013 |
Calico Solar Energy Project |
663.5 | 4,604 | Authorized but pending new environmental review because of technology change |
Nov. 2013 |
Blythe Solar Power Project |
1,000 | 7,025 | Authorized but pending new environmental review because of technology change | Pending |
Imperial Valley Solar Project |
709 | 6,360 | Authorization terminated at request of developer | N/A |
Lucerne Valley Solar Project |
45 | 516 | Terminated effective 12/31/2012 | N/A |
ReWire is dedicated to covering renewable energy in California. Keep in touch by liking us on Facebook, and help shape our editorial direction by taking this quick survey here.
What do you want from ReWire? Share your thoughts with this quick survey and help shape our editorial direction.
Let Us Know
- Wind Power
- PV and Solar Thermal
- Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI)
- Watts and Watt-Hours, Kilo and Mega
- 'Enough To Power X Thousand Homes'
- The Grid
- Distributed Generation
- Conservation and 'Negawatts'
- Grid Storage
- PACE Loans, Feed In Tariffs and Net Metering
- Base Load and Peaking Power
- Capacity Factor
- Renewable Portfolio Standards
- Biomass
- Transportation and Renewable Energy
- Geothermal
Jim Wiegand says :
I wonder if Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is going to answer the letter (below) sent by to him by Whooping Crane Conservation Association (WCCA) . Or will the Dept. of Interior dodge this problem.That would not be a good idea because it is going to come out anyway. Maybe instead of sneaking out of his office he will let the Dept. of Interior rig the whooping crane count with new their spread out count that will include captive bred transplants. In the last year 30 whooping cranes were released along the coast about 60 miles from Texas.
There are just too many eyes on this highly endangered species. For those that do not know, over 200 hundred of whooping cranes have gone missing in recent years after their 2500 mile migration route was invaded by thousands of wind turbines. Prior to 2006 (for decades) their numbers increased at rate about 4.5% per year. But since 2006-2007 their population has been decreasing at a rate of about 10 percent per year. Last year the USFWS could only count 193 so their survey methodology was changed so that population numbers could then be estimated or exaggerated.
January 4, 2013
Ken Salazar,
Secretary U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240
Dear Mr. Salazar: The annual winter census of endangered Whooping Cranes has been an event looked forward to by the conservation community since Aransas National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1937. The aerial total population count, done for the past 61 years, was changed by USFWS in the winter of 2011-2012 to a survey method using hierarchical distance sampling. As stated by USFWS, the new sampling method is only 85% accurate.The Whooping Crane Conservation Association (WCCA) believes the total population count is much preferred to the current estimate that has little value. Estimates are not satisfactory when dealing with this bird which is considered a flagship among all endangered species. Only about 300 birds exist in this wild population and it is still possible to do a total population count. Potentially, a dozen or even thirty five birds could die or disappear and the sampling technique would not detect the change. The new counting system only indicates that some low number of cranes are still present. It does not tell us whether this endangered population has increased or decreased from the previous year. The refuge’s 2011-2012 estimate of 254 plus or minus 62 Whooping Cranes does not serve any management purposes, nor does it provide worthwhile public information. This degree of uncertainty for a critically endangered species is simply unacceptable.
The Whooping Crane is an internationally endangered species, and as such the concerns of the international community should be considered. Because of this high level of interest, and the endangered status of the species, accurate total population counts should be continued annually.
The WCCA sees the total count census as the most practical, economical and having the most scientific value. Three aerial counts between December 1 and 20 would provide a good count of the total number of birds arriving in the winter population. Flights every two weeks, after the December 20 count, until the cranes return north, would provide estimates of population losses during the winter. We note that as of December 27, 2012, the Aransas Refuge new website still does not report any crane numbers from approximately seven flights conducted this fall. We urge you to resume regular aerial total population counts as soon as possible. The WCCA looks forward to continuing its support of the international Whooping Crane conservation efforts, as we have done for the past fifty years.
Sincerely,
Lorne Scott,
President
Whooping Crane Conservation Association
cc: Dan Ashe, Dr. Benjamin Tuggle, Hon. Peter Kent, Wendy Brown, Dr. Grant Harris, Aaron Archibecque, Sonny Perez, Dr. Wade Harrell, LeeAnn Linam, Dr. Rich Beilfuss, Dr. George Archibald, Joseph Duff, Dr. Mark Bidwell, Dr. Sandy Black, Ron Outen, Marty Folk, Alan Strand, Dr. Felipe Chavez-Ramirez, Dr. John French,Larry Schweiger, Wade Luzny
http://whoopingcrane.com/total-whooper-population-count-urged/