| Independently Powered Energy News

A jurisdictional dispute involving the California Energy Commission is underway that could ultimately have statewide ramifications regarding which regulatory bodies can oversee major photovoltaic power projects in California. The questions arise from licensing the Ridgecrest Power Project--a 250 MW facility that would potentially sit in northeastern Kern County. The company pushing the project poses the prospect that it might develop Ridgecrest as a photovoltaic instead of a solar thermal project. Under state law, the Energy Commission has sole authority to permit thermal generation projects. Photovoltaic projects typically have been permitted at the local level. “We’re talking about a waiver,” is how Scott Galati, an attorney for the applicant, described the statute July 25. “A large, general, waiver.” The applicant, Solar Trust of America, requested a determination that the Energy Commission assume full jurisdiction over the Ridgecrest project, including the portions that would be on private land. Opponents of the request, including the Center for Biological Diversity and Kern County’s planning department, countered that the Energy Commission should have no authority over the project if it is converted to PV. “This looks to be an overreaching of the jurisdiction of the commission,” Center for Biological Diversity senior attorney Lisa Belenky said during oral arguments at the July 25 hearing. “There seems to be no standard, and no end in sight.” If the commission exercised jurisdiction over the Ridgecrest matter, it could also theoretically assume jurisdiction over any other pending power plant case within California, Belenky argued. As initially planned, arrays of solar parabolic mirrors would stretch across about 1,400 acres of a 3,900-acre site. However, Galati wrote to the commission on behalf of the applicant on June 17, saying that Solar Trust of America was “exploring” redesign of the project to employ photovoltaic technology. Photovoltaic panels would have less impact on wildlife, he wrote, because they’d have a smaller footprint. The applicant, Solar Trust, is a joint venture between Solar Millennium AG and engineering/construction company Ferrostaal. Solar Trust says the waiver’s authorized by section 25502.3 of the Warren-Alquist Act, which gives energy facility applicants that aren’t required to file with the Energy Commission the ability to waive their right to file with other agencies and instead file with the CEC. “We think that this encroaches on the jurisdiction of the county and cities and other entities, and that it is not the intent of the statute and it is not appropriate,” Belenky said. In a letter presented to commission staff, Kern County Planning Department director Lorelei Oviatt aggressively stated the county’s opposition to the waiver proposal, calling it without merit. “This attempt to subvert local zoning processes and responsibilities should be completely rejected,” the strongly-worded letter reads in part. “Land use on private property is the sole jurisdiction of the Kern County Board of Supervisors and all solar PV projects on private land are the jurisdiction of those elected officials.” Kern County’s hard line stance on the matter comes as it has increasingly sought to expand the installation of renewable energy projects within its borders. There’s an estimated 5,000 MW of renewables under construction or approved and moving there, while another 6,500 MW of wind and solar PV currently are moving through the California Environmental Quality Act process. Oviatt said that solar photovoltaic technology is unlike solar thermal in that the main issue is one of land-use compatibility, and that the oversight of such projects doesn’t require the Energy Commission’s technical engineering expertise. “Solar thermal and other natural gas power plants should be processed at the state level, but not wind or solar PV,” she said. The commission hearing officer overseeing the Ridgecrest project, Kourtney Vaccaro, said Solar Trust’s waiver request is being taken under consideration, although no timeframe as to when a decision might be reached was established. “This is a matter that’s weighty with a lot of complex issues,” she said.

No Result