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Renewable energy sparks a probe of a modern-day land rush
A rush to stake claims for renewable energy projects in the California
desert has triggered a federal investigation and prompted calls for reforms
to prevent public lands from being exposed to private profiteering and
environmental degradation. Officials said last week that the inspector
general's office of the Department of the Interior was investigating Tempe,
Ariz.-based First Solar Inc.'s recent acquisition of Hayward, Calif.-based
OptiSolar, and its unfinished renewable energy projects, for $400 million.
May 31, 2009 by Louis Sahagun in Los Angeles Times
Interior Department investigates an acquisition that involves use of public
land for renewable energy. A larger issue: establishing standards for
private companies using federal stimulus money.
A rush to stake claims for renewable energy projects in the California
desert has triggered a federal investigation and prompted calls for reforms
to prevent public lands from being exposed to private profiteering and
environmental degradation.
Officials said last week that the inspector general's office of the
Department of the Interior was investigating Tempe, Ariz.-based First Solar
Inc.'s recent acquisition of Hayward, Calif.-based OptiSolar, and its
unfinished renewable energy projects, for $400 million. The deal gave First
Solar control of what the company described as OptiSolar's "strategic land
rights" to 136,000 acres of public land in San Bernardino, Riverside and
Kern counties.
Bureau of Land Management officials, however, said First Solar acquired
OptiSolar's applications to develop that land.
"There is no value associated with a mere application, which could be
rejected by us for a variety of reasons," said Greg Miller, renewable energy
program manager for the BLM office in Moreno Valley.
"A company can buy another company along with its applications, as long as
those applications are not listed as assets. That would be wrong," Miller
said. "We're trying to weed out speculators who are filing applications,
then waiting for someone to buy them at the highest price."
First Solar spokeswoman Lisa Morse said the transaction was above board. "We
now have OptiSolar, and the applications were an important part of it for
us," she said. "OptiSolar, which we acquired as a whole, is now a subsidiary
of First Solar."
David Brown, special agent in charge of investigations for the inspector
general's Western region, declined to discuss any ongoing investigation. But
he said that any company that might receive federal stimulus money is a
concern and that his office is trying to get ahead of any potential problems
by reviewing all such projects.
The investigation comes amid debate over how best to control burgeoning
renewable energy industries as they overwhelm the chronically understaffed
and underfunded BLM with an avalanche of applications. Environmentalists say
the situation is a preeminent conservation issue and a crucial test of the
Obama administration's commitment to the environment.
Three years ago, the bureau had six applications for solar energy projects
on file. Over the last year, it has received 130 additional applications
from 50 companies, covering about 600,000 acres -- much of it in one of the
sunniest regions on Earth, the Mojave Desert.
Some applicants are asking for parcels as small as 250 acres. Then there is
Cogentrix Solar Investments, which is seeking more than 300,000 acres.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's executive order that a third of the state's
electricity come from renewable resources by 2020 -- coupled with billions
of dollars in federal stimulus funds expected to become available next year
for wind, solar and biofuel projects -- has the BLM whipsawed by opposing
forces.
Companies queuing up to develop solar farms say they want to replace
imported oil and facilitate a national clean-energy economy. The
environmental community also wants to ensure that scenic landscapes and
ecosystems are not trampled in the process.
"My concern is that highly speculative and perhaps fraudulent investment
games are being played with hundreds of thousands of acres of public land,"
said Bruce Pavlik, a professor of biology at Mills College.
San Francisco attorney Peter Weiner, whose clients include renewable energy
companies and trade organizations, would not go that far.
"The fears of paving over the desert are not well-taken; there will
ultimately be many fewer projects than there are applications," he said.
"But it would be a mistake to think we can free ourselves from foreign oil
and fossil fuels without impacting other environmental values."
In the meantime, applications for proposed renewable energy projects
continue to stack up in BLM desert offices.
Hot spots of contention include 600,000 acres of former railroad lands
between Mojave National Preserve and Joshua Tree National Park.
The land was purchased with $40 million in private donations collected by
the Wildlands Conservancy and $18 million in federal funds, then donated to
the Department of Interior for conservation.
Earlier this year, however, environmentalists were outraged to learn that
the BLM was entertaining 19 applications for renewable energy projects on
the donated lands, which Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) wants to transform
into a national monument.
Feinstein urged Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to suspend the applications.
Salazar, in a seeming compromise, responded by saying that "both national
priorities -- developing renewable energy and preserving our treasured
landscapes -- can be accommodated with careful siting and mutual
consideration."
James Wesley Abbott, acting state director of the BLM, sided with Feinstein
on Wednesday and instructed all deputy state directors, district managers
and field offices to avoid authorizing more applications, or development, on
lands acquired under donor agreements.
A coalition of a dozen environmental groups led by the Wildlands Conservancy
has identified 137,000 acres of public and private agricultural and degraded
desert lands -- all near existing transmission lines -- that could be used
for solar energy farms.
"On these alternative lands we can unite what otherwise would be conflicting
environmental interests," said David Myers, executive director of the
Wildlands Conservancy.
"It would be a real shame if the public policy for our new green economy was
driven haphazardly by speculators," he said.
Web link: www.latimes.com/news/local...lar1-200...
A rush to stake claims for renewable energy projects in the California
desert has triggered a federal investigation and prompted calls for reforms
to prevent public lands from being exposed to private profiteering and
environmental degradation. Officials said last week that the inspector
general's office of the Department of the Interior was investigating Tempe,
Ariz.-based First Solar Inc.'s recent acquisition of Hayward, Calif.-based
OptiSolar, and its unfinished renewable energy projects, for $400 million.
May 31, 2009 by Louis Sahagun in Los Angeles Times
Interior Department investigates an acquisition that involves use of public
land for renewable energy. A larger issue: establishing standards for
private companies using federal stimulus money.
A rush to stake claims for renewable energy projects in the California
desert has triggered a federal investigation and prompted calls for reforms
to prevent public lands from being exposed to private profiteering and
environmental degradation.
Officials said last week that the inspector general's office of the
Department of the Interior was investigating Tempe, Ariz.-based First Solar
Inc.'s recent acquisition of Hayward, Calif.-based OptiSolar, and its
unfinished renewable energy projects, for $400 million. The deal gave First
Solar control of what the company described as OptiSolar's "strategic land
rights" to 136,000 acres of public land in San Bernardino, Riverside and
Kern counties.
Bureau of Land Management officials, however, said First Solar acquired
OptiSolar's applications to develop that land.
"There is no value associated with a mere application, which could be
rejected by us for a variety of reasons," said Greg Miller, renewable energy
program manager for the BLM office in Moreno Valley.
"A company can buy another company along with its applications, as long as
those applications are not listed as assets. That would be wrong," Miller
said. "We're trying to weed out speculators who are filing applications,
then waiting for someone to buy them at the highest price."
First Solar spokeswoman Lisa Morse said the transaction was above board. "We
now have OptiSolar, and the applications were an important part of it for
us," she said. "OptiSolar, which we acquired as a whole, is now a subsidiary
of First Solar."
David Brown, special agent in charge of investigations for the inspector
general's Western region, declined to discuss any ongoing investigation. But
he said that any company that might receive federal stimulus money is a
concern and that his office is trying to get ahead of any potential problems
by reviewing all such projects.
The investigation comes amid debate over how best to control burgeoning
renewable energy industries as they overwhelm the chronically understaffed
and underfunded BLM with an avalanche of applications. Environmentalists say
the situation is a preeminent conservation issue and a crucial test of the
Obama administration's commitment to the environment.
Three years ago, the bureau had six applications for solar energy projects
on file. Over the last year, it has received 130 additional applications
from 50 companies, covering about 600,000 acres -- much of it in one of the
sunniest regions on Earth, the Mojave Desert.
Some applicants are asking for parcels as small as 250 acres. Then there is
Cogentrix Solar Investments, which is seeking more than 300,000 acres.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's executive order that a third of the state's
electricity come from renewable resources by 2020 -- coupled with billions
of dollars in federal stimulus funds expected to become available next year
for wind, solar and biofuel projects -- has the BLM whipsawed by opposing
forces.
Companies queuing up to develop solar farms say they want to replace
imported oil and facilitate a national clean-energy economy. The
environmental community also wants to ensure that scenic landscapes and
ecosystems are not trampled in the process.
"My concern is that highly speculative and perhaps fraudulent investment
games are being played with hundreds of thousands of acres of public land,"
said Bruce Pavlik, a professor of biology at Mills College.
San Francisco attorney Peter Weiner, whose clients include renewable energy
companies and trade organizations, would not go that far.
"The fears of paving over the desert are not well-taken; there will
ultimately be many fewer projects than there are applications," he said.
"But it would be a mistake to think we can free ourselves from foreign oil
and fossil fuels without impacting other environmental values."
In the meantime, applications for proposed renewable energy projects
continue to stack up in BLM desert offices.
Hot spots of contention include 600,000 acres of former railroad lands
between Mojave National Preserve and Joshua Tree National Park.
The land was purchased with $40 million in private donations collected by
the Wildlands Conservancy and $18 million in federal funds, then donated to
the Department of Interior for conservation.
Earlier this year, however, environmentalists were outraged to learn that
the BLM was entertaining 19 applications for renewable energy projects on
the donated lands, which Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) wants to transform
into a national monument.
Feinstein urged Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to suspend the applications.
Salazar, in a seeming compromise, responded by saying that "both national
priorities -- developing renewable energy and preserving our treasured
landscapes -- can be accommodated with careful siting and mutual
consideration."
James Wesley Abbott, acting state director of the BLM, sided with Feinstein
on Wednesday and instructed all deputy state directors, district managers
and field offices to avoid authorizing more applications, or development, on
lands acquired under donor agreements.
A coalition of a dozen environmental groups led by the Wildlands Conservancy
has identified 137,000 acres of public and private agricultural and degraded
desert lands -- all near existing transmission lines -- that could be used
for solar energy farms.
"On these alternative lands we can unite what otherwise would be conflicting
environmental interests," said David Myers, executive director of the
Wildlands Conservancy.
"It would be a real shame if the public policy for our new green economy was
driven haphazardly by speculators," he said.
Web link: www.latimes.com/news/local...lar1-200...
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