Almost 32M acres are available for solar in the West. Will Trump push back?

Despite outcry from some Nevadans, the Biden administration has released a relatively unchanged version of its road map for solar in the West.

Not a single acre of the Silver State’s land was added to or excluded from future solar development when compared with the proposed plan released in September, a Bureau of Land Management spokesman said. The Interior Department reaffirmed its decision that Nevada’s public lands have the most potential for future solar farms, with more than 11 million of the roughly 32 million acres falling within state boundaries, even though 11 states in total were explored in the plan.

The BLM has yet to fulfill the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s public records request for official protests to the proposed plan that were submitted by the September deadline, though one Native tribe, one county and several environmental groups confirmed at the time they would be submitting one.

“Under the Biden-Harris administration, the Interior Department has moved at the pace needed to meet the moment,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement Friday. “With an updated Western Solar Plan, created with extensive input from the public, the Department will ensure the responsible development of solar energy across the West for decades to come.”

In a news release, department officials said they expect only about 700,000 acres to be developed by 2045 to meet the country’s energy demands.

The Nevada Legislature passed a bill in 2019 that requires 50 percent of all energy sold to state residents to come from renewable sources by 2030, and NV Energy is building two $4.2 billion transmission lines that will expand the state’s solar capacity.

As solar projects in and around Southern Nevada grow in number and size, it’s clear that the Mojave Desert is in for change as renewable energy’s popularity swells on both sides of the political aisle.

Worry for water, sacred site

Much of the controversy around solar in Nevada has centered around desert species and water. Environmentalists worry that mitigation plans for fragile desert tortoise populations are insufficient and have said solar construction can take upward of 1,000 acre-feet of water per project.

Dustin Mulvaney, a professor at California’s San Jose State University who writes about the intersection of environmental justice and green energy, said he didn’t expect much to change from the 30-day protest period.

He believes the Interior Department’s 700,000-acre estimate is based on outdated modeling and that projected energy demand will far outpace the agency’s estimates.

“They are still the Bureau of Livestock and Mining,” Mulvaney said. “They’re beholden to industry on everything.”

Across rural Nevada, many county governments are overwhelmed by the heightened interest from solar developers. Several of them don’t have a dedicated natural resources manager.

For rural Nye County, where residents rely exclusively on groundwater wells fueled by the Amargosa River for their drinking water, the plan presents a unique challenge. The perennial yield of the county’s basin, or total water made available through snowpack recharge, is only about 20,000 acre-feet, according to officials.

“BLM needed to balance renewable energy siting with conserving cultural and biological landscapes like the Amargosa River watershed. They fell woefully short,” said Mason Voehl, executive director of the Amargosa Conservancy, a nonprofit that advocates for preservation of the river. He added that the future of the plan is not certain under the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Another source of conflict for the plan has been the proposed monument of Bahsahwahbee, or Swamp Cedars, located near Ely. About a third of the 25,000-acre site, or roughly 7,000 acres, could be opened for solar developers under the plan finalized on Friday.

“They chose to lay a foundation to destroy this place we’ve fought for generations to protect,” said Alvin Marques, chairman of the Ely Shoshone Tribe.

Western Shoshone tribes have been fighting for decades to protect what some say is a Native massacre site, most notably against the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s failed pipeline project, meant to bring the region’s groundwater to Clark County.

“BLM has again completely ignored our Tribes,” added Amos Murphy, chairman of the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation. “Their decision reveals an intent to harm Bahsahwahbee rather than working with us to protect it. This feels intentional.”

Path uncertain as Trump assumes office

Even some in the solar industry aren’t thrilled with Friday’s announcement.

Ben Norris, vice president of regulatory affairs for the Solar Energy Industries Association, said in a statement that solar must remain part of an “all-of-the-above” approach to diversifying the country’s energy portfolio.

The Interior Department’s plan was meant to refresh the one adopted in 2012, under which solar developers have guided the siting of their projects since.

“By not making changes to the treatment of projects that submitted applications under the previous PEIS, today’s decision adds significant regulatory uncertainty to an already challenging development environment, potentially putting jobs and investment dollars at risk,” Norris said on Friday.

It’s unclear whether ex-North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick for Interior Secretary, would make changes to the plan. In a brief statement, the Center for Biological Diversity’s Great Basin director, Patrick Donnelly, said he expects Trump to “axe it the second he gets into office.”

During his September debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump called himself a “big fan of solar,” though he followed that up with a critique of how many acres are dedicated to it in large-scale projects. The Trump transition team didn’t respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Mulvaney, the San Jose State University professor, said a more public push from Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo may inspire Trump to act. Lombardo quietly submitted a letter in opposition to the plan, saying it “places enormous pressure on our rural counties.”

“Despite Trump’s rhetoric, it seems that we could potentially see things continue to move along,” Mulvaney said. “But I could also see it become a political stunt for Trump.”

Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X and @alanhalaly.bsky.social on Bluesky.