The rental schedule was developed based on review and analysis by DOE, BLM, and the U.S. Department of the Interior using models that evaluate the effects of various rental rates on different kinds of solar projects. The BLM is required by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) to collect an annual rental payment for right-of-way authorizations on public lands. FLPMA also requires that rents for these authorizations reflect fair market value for use of public lands.
The schedule includes a "base rent" for the acreage in the right-of-way authorization, payable on the date of issuance, and a "megawatt capacity fee" based on the power capacity of the project, due when the facility starts operation. Base rents vary by county based on rural land values published by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. Annual rates, spelled out for six western states, range from $15.70 per acre in certain counties in Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico, to $313.88 per acre in California's San Bernardino County.
The annual MW capacity fee is $5,256 for each megawatt of PV solar; $6,570 for concentrating PV systems and concentrating solar without storage, and $7,884 for concentrating solar with an energy storage capacity of 3 hours or more. The new rents are effective immediately. See the BLM press release, the BLM's instruction memo on the rents, and a description of solar technologies from DOE's Solar Energy Technologies Program.
DOE Awards $60 Million in Recovery Act Funds to Local Clean Energy Efforts
DOE announced on June 11 that 20 communities have been selected for more than $60 million in funding under the Recovery Act to implement local energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.
Local governments, nonprofit organizations and quasi-governmental organizations in 18 states are among the recipients for the competitive grants, administered under DOE's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program. States receiving funds include Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington.
These awards were open to local communities that were not eligible to receive the initial, population-based formula grants under the EECBG program. Specifically, the funding supports projects that deliver energy efficiency retrofits in residential and commercial buildings and establish financing programs for energy efficiency improvements.
Other activities include transportation programs that conserve energy through trip reduction strategies and alternative transportation options, projects to increase recycling, efforts to reduce the energy demands of delivering and supplying clean water through water efficiency and conservation measures, the installation of energy-efficient street lights, and the integrated deployment of renewable energy systems in conjunction with energy efficiency retrofits to existing buildings.
The award recipients were selected through a competitive review process that took into account expected energy savings and reduced emissions impacts of the projects, leveraged investments from other non-federal sources, and whether the project could be replicated and expanded to contribute to a sustainable market for energy efficiency nationally. Projects that proposed innovative approaches and identified and addressed ways to overcome institutional, regulatory, or market barriers were also favored. See the
DOE press release and the
EECBG Web site.
