The federal Bureau of Land Management is seeking public comment on its proposed designation of federal acreage in Colorado and neighboring states for large-scale solar energy development. The land management agency announced June 29 that 24 large tracts of federal land in the West — including nearly 21,000 acres in Colorado’s San Luis Valley — would be studied for their solar power potential.
Other states involved are California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. The goal is to speed project permitting for utility-scale solar power projects.
The 24 tracts — known as Solar Energy Study Areas, totaling 670,000 acres — will be evaluated for their environmental and resource suitability for large-scale solar energy production.
In Colorado, the three areas in the San Luis Valley that will be part of the study could generate up to 4,182 megawatts of solar power if fully developed, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees BLM.
Areas deemed suitable for large solar power projects would be available for companies to build installations with a capacity of 10 megawatts or more. Companies proposing projects in these areas would be eligible for faster permit processing, the department said.
Click here to download maps of the study areas in PDF format.
Click here to submit comments. The public comment period ends July 30.
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