On April 11, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published final rules to govern leasing and rental rates for renewable energy 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 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.

“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 clean energy to more consumers. We will continue to push for pragmatic solutions that will help us achieve our ambitious clean energy goals.”

News item from SEIA