Constructing renewable vitality and transmission initiatives within the U.S. on the pace and scale the local weather disaster requires would require reforms to the best way they’re sited and permitted — on the federal, state, and native ranges.
The present timeframes wanted to allow, construct and interconnect methods will not be aligned with the Biden administration’s target of decarbonizing the ability sector by 2035. To achieve this purpose and mitigate the worst impacts of local weather change, the U.S. should double or triple the extent of renewable vitality deployment and double the expansion of transmission.
In the meantime, one analysis discovered that the undertaking construct time — together with allowing, siting, and building — for utility-scale photo voltaic and wind facility initiatives averages 4 years. Allowing alone can take years earlier than building can start. Transmission traces, that are wanted to extend grid resiliency and produce wind and photo voltaic vitality to their level of use, can take round 10 years to finish — considerably longer than the time wanted to develop wind and photo voltaic initiatives.
Picture credit score: US Bureau of Land Administration
Current Federal Motion on Vitality Allowing
Congress and the administration are specializing in clear vitality allowing reform on the federal stage, with a specific deal with inter-regional transmission, or energy traces that stretch throughout states, which have been very difficult to construct. The Infrastructure Funding and Jobs Act of 2021 made some coverage adjustments to expedite allowing and siting, significantly for transmission and offshore wind initiatives. This included financing help for transmission initiatives and clarifying and strengthening backstop siting authority of the Federal Vitality Reform Fee (FERC) for interstate transmission traces inside sure corridors (often called Nationwide Curiosity Electrical Transmission Corridors). This transformation signifies that if states don’t challenge permits inside one 12 months for a transmission line inside these precedence corridors, then FERC can challenge the allow.
Whereas this was an necessary step, it’s removed from adequate and doesn’t handle the numerous obstacles to constructing interstate transmission. Even below this new change, it may nonetheless take a few years to construct new interstate transmission traces given the myriad different components concerned in financing and constructing interstate transmission, akin to siting and value allocation. And this backstop siting authority remains to be lower than FERC’s siting authorities for different belongings, particularly pure gasoline pipelines, the place the company has authority over states.
Given the challenges to constructing interstate transmission, additional federal motion and collaboration throughout jurisdictional scales is required. Probably the most seen Congressional effort so far is the stalled Manchin permitting reform proposal. This invoice would have created a streamlined allowing system for vitality belongings, together with renewable vitality initiatives and pure gasoline and fossil initiatives, and would have approved particular initiatives just like the Mountain Valley gasoline pipeline. The proposal additionally would have allowed the U.S. Division of Vitality (DOE) to designate transmission traces within the nationwide curiosity and allow FERC to allocate the prices of those initiatives to ratepayers throughout the area who would profit from them. Whereas the invoice contained controversial provisions and in the end stalled, transmission points are a important subject for federal policymakers to deal with. Debates on this challenge are anticipated to proceed within the 118th Congress.
In the meantime, administrative actions by companies or the administration could also be viable to deal with some parts of wanted allowing reform, akin to setting clear or expedited timelines and bettering coordination throughout companies, though such actions may be modified or reversed by future administrations.
The Clear Sky Tampa Bay group labored with the Photo voltaic Vitality Innovation Community (SEIN) on siting for photo voltaic for extreme climate circumstances. Photograph from the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council
Siting & Allowing Reform on the State & Native Ranges
However addressing clear vitality siting and allowing challenges would require work at a number of jurisdictional scales — not simply the federal stage. Interconnection insurance policies occur on the utility and regional grid operator stage. And far of renewable vitality siting falls below state or native jurisdiction. So how can states and cities expedite their renewable energy improvement? Current examples are useful in in search of options to those issues.
Current State Actions to Handle Siting & Allowing
States and native governments are important actors in siting and allowing vitality initiatives. States differ on whether or not utility-scale renewable vitality siting authority predominantly happens on the state or native stage, with some states taking a hybrid strategy. States could have guidelines that give the authority for siting services over a sure dimension to a state entity, often a public utility fee or a state siting fee. For instance, in Ohio, wind initiatives bigger than 5 megawatts (MW) fall below the jurisdiction of the Ohio Power Siting Board.
Many of those state siting commissions and procedures have been developed for giant era services, akin to coal-fired energy vegetation. Additional complicating the image, wind and photo voltaic is probably not handled uniformly by state and native jurisdictions attributable to completely different land use and siting considerations.
Some states are starting to revisit these current processes for renewable vitality and transmission initiatives with a purpose to meet state clear vitality objectives. For instance, Washington’s HB 1812 modifies an current vitality siting fee by separating it from the general public utility fee, and provides further examine necessities and engagement processes. Different state reforms have been extra restricted. For instance, in 2022, Illinois enacted laws that limits the flexibility of native entities akin to cities to limit sure renewable vitality initiatives like wind and establishes minimal setback necessities and top and sound limitations.
Two states, California and New York, just lately undertook extra complete allowing reform, which might provide classes for different states.
New York Creates Renewable Vitality Allowing Workplace
New York handed the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act as a part of the 2020-21 state funds (A9508-B). The Act created the Workplace of Renewable Vitality Siting (ORES), the nation’s first devoted workplace for siting giant renewable vitality initiatives.
ORES serves as a one-stop store for all mandatory state permits and environmental critiques for renewable vitality initiatives higher than 25 MW. Barely smaller initiatives between 20-25 MW may additionally opt-in to make use of the ORES single-permit course of. ORES should act upon allow purposes inside one 12 months for traditional initiatives, and 6 months for initiatives proposed on sure industrial and industrial websites. The laws additionally designates a desire for build-ready or beforehand developed websites, akin to brownfields.
The act additionally amended current state authorities and gave the state stronger override authority of native legal guidelines limiting renewable vitality initiatives between 25-200 MW in dimension. The ORES course of nonetheless requires undertaking overview and suggestions alternatives and session with native communities. ORES is directed to contemplate native legal guidelines and laws, however could in the end override them if they’re “unreasonably burdensome.” Localities are then in a position to maintain a public listening to, however could not overturn ORES’ resolution.
Earlier than ORES, initiatives over 25 MW have been topic to what was often called an “Article 10 course of,” a multi-stage endeavor requiring approval from the New York State Board on Electrical Era Siting and the Atmosphere. New York’s renewable vitality initiatives took 5 – 10 years to be accomplished below Article 10, considerably hindering the build-out of renewable vitality.
Importantly, the brand new allowing course of additionally requires initiatives to offer advantages to their host communities, together with monetary incentives akin to fee in lieu of taxes to compensate native entities for misplaced tax revenues. The Act additionally directs the Public Service Fee to find out how you can present compensation to areas for internet hosting initiatives, together with utility invoice credit.
And eventually, the laws makes funds obtainable to help intervention within the allowing course of. The express inclusion of those two parts — benefit-sharing and intervention — handle distributive and procedural fairness, ensuring that communities see tangible advantages to internet hosting a undertaking and guaranteeing funds for them to take part within the regulatory course of.
California Clarifies Renewable Vitality Siting Authority in Present Company
As a part of the 2022 funds course of, California enacted AB 205, a funds trailer invoice that incorporates a bundle of energy-related objects. Together with different vital vitality objects, AB 205 incorporates substantial adjustments to wash vitality allowing.
The reform offers a single company, the California Vitality Fee (CEC), authority for a consolidated allowing course of that replaces all federal, state and native necessities (with a couple of exceptions for water high quality and coastal permits). The CEC already performs this function for fossil-fuel thermal vegetation. AB 205 expands this CEC authority to wind, photo voltaic and vitality storage initiatives over 50 MW; non-fossil thermal vegetation akin to geothermal; and transmission traces from these initiatives. The consolidated allow may additionally be used for wind, photo voltaic and vitality storage manufacturing services.
The brand new authority is opt-in, which means eligible initiatives should select to pursue this streamlined allowing strategy.
The brand new course of makes an attempt to restrict the allowing timeline to roughly one 12 months. Upon receiving an eligible undertaking’s allow software, the CEC should resolve on its completeness inside 30 days. The CEC then acts as lead company for the California Environmental High quality Act (CEQA) course of and should put together an environmental influence overview (EIR), observe steps for public outreach and Tribal session, and host a public assembly as shut as potential to the proposed undertaking website as soon as the draft EIR is launched.
AB 205 units a time restrict for this EIR course of, requiring CEQ to find out whether or not to approve it inside 270 days of the completeness discovering. The invoice additionally permits for expedited decision of litigation arising from the EIR course of, limiting it to 270 days from the court docket submitting (with extra particulars on the expedited decision to be established by December 31, 2023).
To ensure that a allow software to be deemed full, the undertaking should observe sure labor and prevailing wage requirements and have a net-positive financial influence on the area people. The undertaking should even have a written neighborhood advantages plan in place with a signatory neighborhood accomplice, akin to an area authorities entity, a neighborhood group, Tribal entities or a social justice group.
These neighborhood profit plans should be written contracts demonstrating mutual advantages, and will embody necessities associated to job high quality and entry, workforce coaching, and neighborhood investments akin to parks and bike paths.
Subsequent Steps for Federal, State, & Native Policymakers to Expedite Clear Vitality Allowing & Siting
Current state allowing reforms present potential classes for different states and Congress, given the continued want for reforms at a number of ranges of presidency. The California and New York allowing reforms share a couple of frequent approaches, together with:
- Creating a single workplace with expedited overview of all permits wanted below related state authority
- Together with necessities for neighborhood engagement and advantages as a part of the undertaking improvement and allow overview course of
- Setting most allow overview timelines, and restricted subsequent litigation timelines
- Each have been handed as a part of funds processes alongside different vitality provisions, suggesting that allowing reform is likely to be extra profitable as a part of a bundle than a stand-alone merchandise.
Key to any reforms are mechanisms for early and efficient neighborhood engagement, in addition to consideration of the cumulative influence inside communities. A current Information for Progress memo discovered excessive help for neighborhood advantages as a part of renewable vitality undertaking improvement, akin to funding for cleansing up polluted websites, funding for neighborhood facilities, and applications for youth and seniors. Policymakers ought to create boards for native stakeholder engagement as a part of any centralized allow overview course of and facilitate early conferences between communities and undertaking builders.
For state policymakers contemplating taking over this challenge, potential subsequent steps could embody:
- Reviewing current state allowing processes for clear vitality and transmission initiatives, together with any current information on common undertaking timelines
- Evaluating alternatives for interagency coordination, together with inside peer companies, (e.g. between state companies) and improved coordination and parallel processing with companies from different jurisdictions (e.g. between state and federal companies)
- Ensuring companies are adequately staffed and funded. Lack of sufficient staffing is usually a major driver of allow delays.
- Working with stakeholders — together with native governments and associations, community-based teams, undertaking builders and grid operators — to start conversations on present challenges and potential options
These actions, together with complementary reforms at federal and native ranges, is usually a first step in adjusting allowing practices to construct a clear and resilient grid. Actions on the state, federal and native ranges will all be mandatory to construct the clear vitality era and grid infrastructure wanted to keep away from the worst impacts of local weather change.
Understanding Siting & Allowing
There’s not a single definition or normal course of for siting and allowing vitality initiatives within the U.S.
Siting typically refers back to the course of of choosing a geographic website for a proposed undertaking.
Allowing typically refers back to the means of required approvals and overview wanted to put in a undertaking at a website, topic to related ordinances.
The undertaking location, sort, dimension and different undertaking components decide the particular permits and approvals wanted. Approvals usually contain completely different authorities, and will embody native governments’ land use and zoning restrictions, state and native ordinances particular to renewable vitality improvement (e.g. setback necessities), grid interconnection agreements, and permits for initiatives sited on state or federal lands or that influence cultural websites and significant pure assets and habitats. These allowing actions could require environmental influence statements below federal and state legal guidelines.
The results of the a number of permits wanted, and the completely different overview processes and timelines for every one, usually ends in prolonged timelines. For cross-jurisdictional or inter-state initiatives — significantly transmission — the complexity and delays compound
By Lori Bird and Katrina McLaughlin
Initially revealed on WRI website.
