The Biden administration said on Wednesday it would reduce fees for companies building wind and photovoltaic projects on federal land. The move is aimed at encouraging the development of renewable energy. "Clean energy projects on public lands play an important role in reducing our nation's greenhouse gas emissions and lowering household costs," Interior Secretary Deb Harland said in a statement.
Wind PV developers have long consistently said lease rates and fees for projects on federal land are too high to attract investors. Administration officials said the new policy would cut those costs by about 50 percent. Rep. Mike Levine, a California Democrat who supports legislation to speed up renewable energy development, applauded the move. "As Americans continue to face the worsening impacts of the climate crisis and rising energy bills, it is critical that we strengthen our clean energy independence to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower energy costs," he said in a statement.
Ms. Harland made the announcement during a trip to Las Vegas, where she moderated a renewable energy roundtable with business groups. The Federal Bureau of Land Management also announced that it will strengthen its ability to handle the growing number of applications from wind, solar and geothermal developers by establishing five new offices in the west to review proposed projects.
The decision comes as the Biden administration is also seeking to increase the royalties charged to oil and gas companies for drilling on federal lands and federal waters. Last month, the administration canceled three oil and gas lease sales off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska, prompting Republican lawmakers to criticize the new renewable energy policy against fossil-fuel-producing states.
"This is Biden's energy policy: wind, solar and wishful thinking," Sen. John F. Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, said in the Senate on Wednesday. "It's not realistic, and it's hurting our country. It hurts Louisiana's people."
President Biden has pledged to cut U.S. greenhouse gas production by roughly half by 2030. But the current legislation to achieve that goal is frozen on Capitol Hill. As a result, the government has focused its attention on more limited executive actions that can stimulate clean energy and reduce the use of carbon-emitting energy sources such as oil, gas and coal.
For example, last year the government approved two large-scale solar projects on federal lands in California, which it said would generate about 1,000 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 132,000 homes.
In a report to Congress in April, the Home Office said it was on track to approve 48 wind, solar and geothermal energy projects in the 2025 budget cycle that would generate an estimated 31,827 megawatts, enough to generate approximately 31,827 megawatts. 9.5 million households are powered.
The reduction in fees and rents comes at a challenging time for the solar industry. A Commerce Department investigation into whether Chinese companies circumvented U.S. tariffs by shipping solar panel modules in four Southeast Asian countries has blocked hundreds of new solar projects across the country.