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Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. talk to the media after an event announcing the establishment of solar energy zones on large areas of Bureau of Land Management land in six Western states at UNLV in Las Vegas on Friday, October 12, 2012.
By Eli Segall (contact) 
Published Friday, Oct. 12, 2012 | 12:10 p.m.
Updated Friday, Oct. 12, 2012 | 5:30 p.m.
Related document
U.S. officials have finalized a plan to spur solar-energy projects on federal lands in Nevada and other Western states.
And Sen. Harry Reid, a staunch advocate, made sure to take a jab at Nevada’s largest electricity provider, saying NV Energy refuses to consider some clean-energy efforts.
At a press conference Friday at UNLV, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar signed the incentive plan, known as the “Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement.” It designates 17 solar energy zones in six states totaling nearly 285,000 acres. Nevada has five zones, comprising about 60,400 acres.
Officials say the zones are well-suited for large-scale solar projects, with Salazar calling them “sweet spots.” The zones have access to existing or planned transmission lines, and developers would receive expedited permitting if they build there. More zones could eventually be added.
Under the program, developers would acquire a right-of-way to build on U.S. Bureau of Land Management property and then pay royalties to the government. Payment levels are based on the amount of acreage involved and the value of the right-of-way, Salazar said.
“We’re basically mapping out the future of solar energy,” he said.
Reid, the Senate majority leader, said a dozen renewable energy projects were completed in Nevada in the last four years under President Barack Obama, a fellow Democrat, while there were none in Nevada under Obama’s predecessor, Republican President George W. Bush.
Before 2009, there were no solar energy projects permitted on public lands, according to the Interior Department.
Reid pointed out that many members of the Moapa Paiutes live near NV Energy’s Reid Gardner Generating Station, a coal-fueled, steam-electric generating plant northeast of Las Vegas.
He said tribal members have “begged” the utility to work with them on clean energy efforts, but the company “wouldn’t even talk to them.”
Instead, he noted, a project will be built there with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. That agency recently approved two deals to help meet the city’s renewable energy goals. One project, from energy producer K Road Power, would include a solar plant on Moapa land.
Nevada’s renewable energy portfolio standard has been described as one of the most aggressive in the country, requiring 25 percent of electricity in the state to come from renewable sources by 2025. NV Energy has been criticized for buying wind power from Wyoming, geothermal from Utah and hydropower from Idaho dams to help it meet that threshold.
On Friday, Reid said the company “has done everything they can to avoid” the requirement.
Reid has been critical of NV Energy in the past. In August, kicking off the fifth annual National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas, he called on NV Energy to shut down Reid Gardner.
In a statement that didn't address Reid's Friday criticisms, NV Energy spokeswoman Jennifer Schuricht said: "To the extent that this accelerates federal permitting for energy projects in Nevada, it is another proactive step in helping our state maximize its natural resources."
The plan signed by Salazar is not the only approach taken by the U.S. government to spur clean-energy projects.
Obama in August announced that seven solar and wind energy projects — including in Nevada, Arizona and California — would be expedited.
The projects are expected to produce nearly 5,000 megawatts combined, or enough power for about 1.5 million homes.
One of Nevada’s projects, K Road Power’s 200-megawatt Moapa Solar Energy Center, would be one of the first large-scale solar projects on U.S. tribal lands.
The other project, the Silver State South Solar Energy project near Primm, would bring a solar-energy generation plant to 13,043 acres of public property. The plant would produce an estimated 350 megawatts of clean energy, enough to power about 105,000 homes.
Other projects have already been built or are under way.
Silver State North, a companion project to Silver State South, was the first solar project the Interior Department approved for public lands in Nevada. Salazar “flipped the switch” on the project, also located near Primm, in May. The 50-megawatt plant is expected to generate enough power for about 9,000 homes.
And near Tonopah, a subsidiary of Santa Monica-based SolarReserve LLC will own and operate the 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project. That project will be built on BLM land, and the developer has a 25-year agreement with NV Energy to sell all of the electricity generated by the plant.
Construction started last September and is expected to be completed late next year.
The BLM administers 67 percent of Nevada’s land base, and the agency says this creates ample opportunity to help meet Nevada’s renewable energy goal.
Would love to see a map or some type of graphic showing where these energy zone projects may go. There are neighborhoods throughout Clark County that have been impacted by government projects, mostly in a negative way, as property owners were not adequately informed, nor allowed input (projects have been shoved down their throats). Those who have property next to or adjacent to such massive projects, should be given the option to sell their properties to the subject agency, so that citizen property owners are not adversely impacted.
Blessings and Peace,
Star
The entire southwest should be covered with solar panels and wind farms.
An appropriate story to read as I head out the door to see Atlas Shrugged Part 2.
Here you go Star, a map.
http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/lo...
Google is your friend. ;-)
Never mind zones, find an economical way to put panels on every house (with back-feed to the grid) and you are on the path to a real energy solution.
How much is this going to cost the tax payers and how many jobs does it produce?
Solar socialism! Right republican teaheads?
Change the regressive solar energy law in Nevada that allows NV Energy to NOT pay for excess solar power generated by home installations.
This stupid greedy law is why there is virtually no home solar industry in Nevada, while in other states like Califonia, (that doesn't have this regressive law) home solar systems are a big seller.
AND THEY MAKE MORE JOBS.
"We're basically mapping out the future of solar energy,".... "To the extent that this accelerates federal permitting for energy projects in Nevada, it is another proactive step in helping our state maximize its natural resources.",.... "The plan signed by Salazar is not the only approach taken by the U.S. government to spur clean-energy projects.",... "Reid said the company (NVE) "has done everything they can to avoid" the requirement."..................... WAKE UP AMERICA, before it's too late. Express your opinion at the next Tea Party meeting scheduled for Nov 6Th 7am-7pm , All Americans are invited.
Not only would solar panels on every home be a real energy solution, think of all of the local jobs and business opportunities that could and would be created.
So where is the political will to get the ball rolling?
I'm an American currently living in Australia. Not only does Target pay $22/hour to customer service reps here, but income tax is similar (and for most people, lower) than the U.S., there is quality universal health care (surprise! the world didn't end), and you can get a 5kW solar system for $5,000. In Las Vegas, I was quoted $30,000. America, you are being sold a lie. It's not the Democrats nor the Republicans that need to be voted out of power - it's the corporations.
Well said danielmalvarado
One nuke plant would produce more power than all the eye sore mirrors or wind mills ever built..
I recall that 100 square miles of solar panel array could generate enough power to serve the entire country. Storage is a problem but there are certainly 100sq miles in NV. This is where we should be headed and relegate existing plants to nighttime and peaking power, at least for the western part of the US. Might be tougher for the East.
You all can have panels on your roof.
Call a local contractor and get it done.
You will be helping support the economy, keeping people employed and have your solar panels.
I get the idea by the posts here that you want the Government (taxpayers) to pay to put panels on your homes.
"You all can have panels on your roof."........................ Why in the world would anyone do that when you can pay for several solar panels installed near Laughlin and Boulder City on FREE goverment land and charged a green energy rate when you use power?
I wonder what Harry's cut is on this deal?
The problem is....our energy costs will not drop a single dime even with these in our back yards.Our energy costs in the valley should be the lowest in the country with the dam right here.Why are we paying for outside power from other states?...makes no sense.
This is why Salazar and Reid conspired together to have wild horses removed from Nevada's public lands. They knew this project couldn't be built on lands that were home to a federally protected species, so the horses had to be "saved". Total out-right lies and propaganda... all for so-called,
'green energy'... that is anything but 'green' due to the caustic batteries necessary to store the power.