Controversial plan for solar thermal power facility in Mojave Desert dropped

BrightSource Energy Inc. today said it has scrapped a controversial plan to build a major solar thermal power facility in eastern Mojave Desert wilderness that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D.-Calif.) wants to transform into a national monument.

The announcement ended a long-running dispute between backers of renewable energy and environmentalists strongly opposed to the idea of creating an industrial zone within 600,000 acres of former railroad lands that had been donated to the Department of Interior for conservation.

The acrimony even triggered a nasty public squabble between Robert Kennedy Jr., a senior advisor at VantagePoint Venture Partners, which raised $160 million for BrightSource, and David Myers, executive director of the Wildlands Conservancy, which raised $40 million to buy the railroad lands and protect them from development. 

Of particular concern was BrightSource’s application to develop a solar power plant on a portion of the donated lands known as Broadwell Dry Lake, which lies within Sleeping Beauty Valley. The scenic, near pristine region is home to bighorn mountain sheep and a variety of plants and reptiles found nowhere else.

Today, BrightSource spokesman Keely Wachs said, “We have ceased all activity at the Broadwell site ... We will not build inside of a national monument.” “Our core mission is to protect the environment and reduce carbon emissions,” he added. “We share Sen. Feinstein’s values on this matter.”

News of the company’s announcement came as a welcomed surprise to environmentalists. “BrightSource should be saluted for their corporate responsibility,” Myers said. “A major conflict between renewable energy and environmentalists has just evaporated.”

Elden Hughes, former chairman of the Sierra Club’s California-Nevada Desert Committee, called the company’s announcement “fantastic news.” “Broadwell is one of the most beautiful vistas in the desert,” he said. “I’ve seen it covered with yellow flowers to the horizon in all directions.”

The BrightSource application was one of 19 under review by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Wachs said the company had ceased activity at the Broadwell site “a few months ago.”

Around the same time, the company began seeking alternative sites for that project “in and outside of the state,” he said.

-- Louis Sahagun

Comments

[Dan]

Another victory for the environmentalists, so much for wanting renewable energy and less dependant on foreign oil and fossil fuel. It's my humble opinion that the current administration push for Crap and Trade will go down to failure for this very reason. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the dinasours for their contribution to our dimise.

[B T]

Amazing. Environmental concerns killed off a project that would have eliminated burning hundreds of tons of fossil fuels. And instead we save some yellow flowers and some lizards that would never know the solar plant was operating near them. Its almost like they DON'T WANT to solve the problem.

[P J Evans]

They can put in their solar plant on land that's privately owned and not protected. There's a lot of it available, even in the desert. Maybe some of the former airports that are out there would be suitable.

[GEAH]

Environmentalists don't care about people.

[Markus]

Don't believe the hype, with 10% of the energy being wasted in transmission, a better program here in the SouthWest would be to encourage the addition of solar panels for homes and businesses within the cities and feed the grid that way. The nodes would feed the areas that need more electricity much more efficiently. Unfortunately, the old monopolistic dino electric companies don't want us to know about this type of solution. They don't want to lose their grip on our wallets.

[Steve]

The commenters seem to ignore what the article actually says: Even BrightSource agrees that this is not the appropriate location for a solar energy plant and that there are alternatives. Energy needs should not trump environmental needs. The amazing part of this article is that the company understood that and is now seeking a another location rather than engaging in a fight.

[ricardoh]

Most beautiful waste land in the world. Whoever visits it? However the crooks are looking for free land.

[Keith]

You'd think the enviro's would be for renewable energy

[Derek Bill]

It's not like there isn't other sunny, spoilable, wide open space in California that you could fit a solar plant into. And if not, we sure have plenty of it here in the New Mexico desert.

And besides, the idea of concentrating generation in one place may not be the best idea anyway. Why not cut out the corporate profiteer and control of your own destiny with a solar unit on your rooftop? Or does that sound like some kind of commie plot to you?

[Ed the mango tree hugger]

I know, we should cover yosemite with solar panels so we can run the jacuzzi at the lodge for free.

Dont be an environmentalist at the expense of the environment.

Put the panels on rooftops that people live and work in.
Why do we have to give our money to foreigners and large corporations?

[Jimmy]

If I promise to send yollow flowers to Mr. Elden Hughes every day of the season, can we get the solar facility back?
May be it was a good thing they dropped the project, that money can be used for wind power generators in California now.

[DB]

Environmentalists are mostly people with too much time on their hands and are little children that just want attention. The hot air coming out of their mouths should be a concern as it's my opinion that it is contributing to the erosion of the ozone layer and global warming.

[Common sense]

So solar is now bad?

Windmills are bad to look at?

Are we back to oil?

[R.Sprinkle]

A perfect example of how our two party system has once again accomplished nothing! As long as the "D's" & "R's" keep pointing their fingers at each other , and blaming each other,this is what we can expect. Lots of luck America.

[J T]

It's shameful that it's so difficult to build a solar plant in one of the most perfect locations for solar power. And it's not as if we're running out of open space in the desert either! These roadblocks to renewable energy development are also impediments to California's future. We need significant, simple, and well-publicized incentives to utilize our most abundant and famous resource - our sunshine! The fact that an often cloudy and northerly country (Germany) is a leader is solar panel installation should say something.

[john]

1 problem w/ the brightsource scheme was it required boiling water to
run turbines and god knows what aquifers and whatever they'd have to
use out in the desert to make this all work.

i guess photovoltaic is still too expensive.

[tom]

1)Solar panels on every roof in America would create a lot of jobs in every community, but WILL NOT profit utility companies.

2) Power plants and generating equipment will ALWAYS be targets for terrorism.

3) If Al Qaeda should start scurrying up my roof gutter it's already game over anyway.

[Sue Anne]

I live in Los Angeles and own a cabin near the Mojave Desert. The area is pristine and beautiful AND I don't want a Solar farm in my back yard. If LA needs more power than LA builders need to build responsibly. Its time for LA folks to rethink consumption and change habits. Build solar panels on roof tops and in your own back yard or try turning off the lights, replacing lawns with indigenous water tolerant plants, turning off your air conditioners, walking instead of driving your SUVs to the market, recycling water and reuniting your soul with the natural world. We don't want your solar panels in our back yard!

[Bill]

Check your physics. A home solar ELECTRIC direct conversion panel large enough to power a home would be as big as the roof, and cost twice as much. People in the deep desert and mountains have them. You can buy them right now, but no one with better alternatives ever does. And the pollution to manufacture the panel isn't doing anyone any favors either.

A home solar THERMAL panel works great for heat in winter or making hot water. Or even a/c in summer (remember gas powered refrigerators?). But it doesn't make electricity.

And even if BrightSource put the plant on private land (more expensive, longer payback, less return on investment, less economically attractive) they would still have to jump through all the same environmental hoops to build it. The free land is probably what made the project worth doing. They probably realized they were going to waste a ton of money fighting this and never get anywhere, so why not quit now and save the money?

Starry eyed "alternatives" are wonderful, but magical thinking doesn't get the real world project built.

[Lauro]

The desert not a good place for a solar power plant? Hmmm
maybe the woods or foggy coast will do? No?

Or you know where? Arizona, Nevada, the rest of the Southwest is already doing this. They do have giant solar panels...polution? zero. Impact to the enviroment? Less that the waste caused by envirowackos telling us how to live our lives. What hypocrazy! This courtesy of the State that is killing jobs faster than it can sell
debt.

Today the the residents of Califorina lost.

[Kim Williams, Your Family Farm]

Rooftop solar in urban areas is the future if we are to produce energy where it is needed while eliminating: transmission cost, decimation of rural ag land and natural resources, all while providing affordable energy to the masses. With rooftop solar, power goes to the homeowner first with excess power produced being sold to the utility company. With utility scale solar projects, energy harvested for free from the sun, (after startup costs are recouped)is then sold wholesale to companies like PG&E to sell to their customers at the same rate as power produced by conventional methods. With offers from panel manufacturers to finance the cost of the panels along with a 30% tax credit from the Feds utility scale solar projects are a no brainer for big money capital ventures. But that's the only one who wins while we lose valuable natural resources for future generations.

[John Howard]

An item only lightly touched on- How much money did Bobby K. Jr. make out of the money that VantagePoint raised for this project? And is Al Gore involved in VantagePoint? Is alternative energy development re-enriching the already-rich?

[Randy Banis]

Broadwell Lake is not "one of the most perfect locations for solar power," as one stated below. Rather, it is one of the most PROFITABLE. If Broadwell Lake was a perfect location, it would have easily been approved.

Calling this a victory for environmentalist is a gross oversimplification. Also opposed to this project were the recreation community, including backcountry OHV & 4x4 enthusiasts, gem & mineral collectors, hunters, history and solitude seekers -- in other words, those who frequent Broadwell Lake.

Conservatives and liberals are together on this issue. The battle is between those who care about the desert backcountry and those who do not.

[True Common Sense]

Wow some of these people seriously need to educate themselves about the issues? Whether you are an environemntalist or not there is plenty of lands, in facts hundreds of thousands of acres of DISTURBED LAND in CA to put these projects on! Americans do NOT have to sacrifice treasured landscapes for renewable energy- are you ready- here it comes- WE CAN HAVE BOTH!! Keep your head in your city cubicle if you're not going to really be educated about issues.