PVT FILE PHOTO A series of photovoltaic panels, enough to power 400 homes, was constructed recently in Death Valley National Park. PVT FILE PHOTO Nevada Solar One is a 64 megawatt solar plant constructed south of Boulder City, a relatively small project compared to what's planned in Nye County. Advertisement

A dozen applications for rights-of-way submitted to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for solar projects in Nye County will be exempt from a moratorium on new solar applications in six western states.

The BLM announced its plan in May.

Solar power representatives said such a policy could stifle new projects in a promising industry in Nevada, a state referred to as "the Saudi Arabia of solar."

The BLM wants to conduct a programmatic environmental impact statement on the effects of all the solar power applications, a process expected to take 22 months.

When it comes to the applications already filed, JoLynn Worley, a spokesperson for the state BLM office, said, "those will be continuing through the application process during this time that the BLM is doing a programmatic EIS.

"We felt like we needed to do this because up until the past year, we haven't received many applications for solar, say in the past 20 years," she said. "Then all of a sudden we have a lot."

Worley said the BLM wants to study whether the projects will have an effect on endangered species like the desert tortoise or an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. The BLM also may examine whether to receive competitive bids on the rights-of-way permits, she said.

State and local officials, along with a few representatives of alternative energy companies, expressed some concern about the decision during a meeting with the BLM at the Clarion Hotel in Las Vegas last Wednesday.

Nevada District 36 Assemblyman Ed Goedhart, R-Amargosa Valley, said the policy punishes Nevada more than the other western states, because of the large percentage of federal land. He said the BLM was given the task of facilitating solar power twice before, in 2001 and again in 2005.

Goedhart was concerned by comments from BLM officials who said due to a shortage of staff and a backlog of paperwork, applications already submitted for rights-of-way may take two to three years. He was afraid that after an existing right-of-way application is finally approved, the rules could change again after the programmatic EIS is completed.

"It's a typical, federal, government bureaucracy," Goedhart said. "You only have one chance to take off and become the epicenter of an industry."

Solar power would require investments of $4 million per megawatt, which would flow into Nye County tax coffers, Goedhart said. A solar power project could provide up to 120 full-time jobs, he said.

Nye County consultant Walt Kuver told attendees at the Devil's Hole workshop last month, if all the applications in Nye County were approved, much of the Highway 95 frontage from Lathrop Wells to Beatty could be lined with photovoltaic panels and steam turbine power plants for big, solar projects generating over 1,000 megawatts.

Kuver had concerns over water usage. He advocated dry cooling, which would reduce water consumption for the solar plants. There's also issues over the environmental impact of transmission lines, he said.

Amargosa Conservancy Director Brian Brown didn't want to see massive land levelling over tens of square miles that would impact the environment.

Goedhart said if a large, 500 megawatt project was built in Amargosa Valley, which has 750 square miles, it would still only impact 1.5 percent of the land area.

He was referring to Austra Inc., which has applied for right-of-way on 7,040 acres west of Highway 160, north of Johnnie for a 400 megawatt solar power plant in the first phase, with another 200 megawatt capacity plant as part of a second phase.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal quoted Sean Kiernan, representing Ausra, as warning delegates at the Wednesday meeting, "freezing the industry will effectively stunt the industry and effectively destroy the industry before it gets off the ground."

During a telephone interview, Ausra representatives wouldn't give quotes for the record to the Pahrump Valley Times.

Another company, Iberdrola Renewables, has filed three applications totalling 26,200 acres, near the Big Dune Area of Critical Environmental Concern, for solar projects.

Solar Millenium has right-of-way applications pending for 4,070 acres and 837 acres in Amargosa Valley, another application for 2,457 acres around the Beatty Airport and another for 4,800 acres at the Tonopah Airport. The company is considering a solar plant at each location capable of generating 150 to 350 megawatts. One megawatt is enough to power about 200 homes.

Don Reid, a project advisor for Solar Millenium, said he can understand the reasons for a programmatic EIS. But he said, "it could affect some of our projects. We're still looking into it to see what kind of effect it could have. I don't think it's a good thing for solar."

Reid said his company is working with the BLM. But it's difficult to put a time line on when a project will be ready to construct, because of the numerous studies that need to be done.

"Hopefully they'll be responsive and we'll get things done in time," he said. "Amargosa's got a great solar resource. It's a great opportunity for Nye County."

The moratorium could impact Solar Millenium if the company decides it needs to file additional right-of-way applications for more land, Reid said.

Goedhart said Solar Millenium is well along in the process. The company is only awaiting a power purchase agreement to be signed by Sierra Pacific Resources and the BLM right-of-way approval before they can start building.

"A lot of people in the room felt the time has come to embrace alternative energies and now they're coming up with another obstacle," Goedhart said.

The solar industry is also waiting to see if Congress will pass a bill extending tax credits for renewable energy projects which expire this year. Goedhart said solar industry officials are optimistic Congress will pass such a bill by October.

"The country has a major energy problem, has a major climate problem and solar has a major role to play, particularly in Nevada. Nevada has one of the best solar resources in the world," Reid said. "Hopefully, the BLM will streamline this process."