Interior Approves First Solar Project on Nevada Public Lands
On October 13, the Department of the Interior approved the First Solar, Inc. Silver State North Solar Project, the first large-scale solar project on Nevada public lands.
The 50 MW solar plant will be built in the Ivanpah Valley, 40 miles south of Las Vegas. The project underwent extensive public environmental review by Interior's Bureau of Land Management. The Silver State installation is one of several renewable energy projects in the pipeline for the state.
Phase one will consist of construction and operation of a solar PV plant on 618 acres. The electricity is expected to supply power for about 15,000 homes, and will be sold via a power purchase agreement with NV Energy. First Solar has plans for an additional 350 MW at the site, which has yet to go through environmental review. See the Interior Department press release, a project fact sheet , and BLM record of decision for Silver State.
2010 ACEEE Energy Efficiency Scorecard Cites State Leaders
States across the U.S. made progress in energy efficiency, according to the 2010 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard released on October 13 by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).
Highlights include: state energy efficiency budgets have almost doubled since 2007 from $2.5 billion to $4.3 billion; more than half of all states have adopted or are actively considering adopting energy efficiency standards that establish long-term, fixed efficiency savings targets; and the number of states that have either adopted or have made significant progress toward the adoption of the latest energy-saving building codes for homes and commercial properties have doubled over the past year.
For the fourth year, California retained first place, outperforming all other states in its level of investment in energy efficiency across all sectors of its economy. Massachusetts again placed second. The four most-improved states were Utah (up 11 spots from 2009 to number 12), Arizona (up 11 spots to 18), New Mexico (up 8 spots to 22), and Alaska (up 8 spots to 37). California, Massachusetts, and Washington have implemented transportation-specific greenhouse gas reduction targets while several other states have adopted policies to encourage creation of compact and transit-oriented communities.
The Scorecard examines six energy efficiency policy areas: utility and public benefits programs and policies; transportation policies; building energy codes; combined heat and power; state government initiatives; and appliance efficiency standards. See the ACEEE
press release, the
complete report online, and the
Energy Scorecard Web site.
