Wind Energy

The Lava Ridge Wind Project, a proposed large-scale wind farm in southern Idaho, faces yet another challenge as the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation withdraws from the process.

The agency’s preferred alternative includes a smaller project footprint, fewer turbines and more height restrictions, which it says respond to the many concerns raised. However, the announcement has been criticized by a number of groups and officials.

Wind energy is a big part of the transition from fossil fuels. But that comes with consequences, including the potential for more deadly collisions between birds and turbines.

The wind farm, located mostly on public lands in Jerome, Lincoln and Minidoka counties, could include up to 400 wind turbines, providing more than 1,000 megawatts of power. It's faced fierce opposition in Idaho.

The wind farm has generated significant opposition. One objection has been that the power produced on public lands in Idaho would likely be sent out of state.

When Lava Ridge Wind Project was proposed in 2018, it was the first of its kind for public lands in Idaho. Now the BLM is processing 14 renewable energy applications in the state.

The county wants time to put new zoning regulations in place as it sees an increased interest in wind and solar development.

One element of the BLM’s proposed Public Lands Rule would allow for so-called conservation leasing, which would enable public and private entities to carry out restoration work or compensatory mitigation to offset the impacts of projects. The Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, says that such leases could speed the development of clean energy on public lands, an important prospect given the Biden administration’s ambitious goal of permitting 25 gigawatts of such projects by 2025.

The Biden administration has approved a major high-voltage power line designed to deliver renewable energy from the Mountain West to population centers in the Southwest.

The build-out of clean energy infrastructure in the West on its current trajectory would occupy about 39 million acres of land – roughly three-fourths the size of Utah – by 2050. A new study by The Nature Conservancy, however, suggests that the right mix of technologies can cut the amount of land needed in half.