More land for solar projects

More than 1 million acres of federal land in central and southern Oregon could soon be leased for solar energy projects.

Officials at the federal Bureau of Land Management announced Aug. 29 they had finalized a plan to add Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming to its existing Western Solar Plan – an Obama-era project that expanded permitting for solar projects on federal land. When it was first implemented in 2012, it only included Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. 

The expansion includes 1.1 million acres of land in Oregon that officials deem to be of low risk for any adverse environmental effects from solar installations, and the plots also are within 15 miles of existing or planned transmission lines. 

About 3 percent of Oregon’s electricity has come from solar in recent years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Western states need to expand solar and other clean energy production to meet their climate goals.