Public lands offer potential for boosting energy generation

Key Takeaways

In the sunny skies and windy plains of western Colorado, energy producers have a chance to double dip on their yield by adding renewable energy projects to existing oil and gas leases on public lands.

And done right, those plans could have the support of residents and a chance to pay off for the counties in which they’re located, a recent study has found.

“Decisions are typically won or lost at the community level,” said Adrienne Dorsey, a consultant with the Mana Group who presented the study Sept. 24 to NACo Energy Symposium attendees in Texas. 

“Folks really want to see developers be a good neighbor and really thinking about impacts to those local communities,” she said.

But that support depends on residents keeping access to public lands and getting clear information about the benefits to the region, she said.

“Communicating economic incentives for local communities for projects is critical,” Dorsey said. 

“We heard that time and time again.”

The study focused on Moffat, Routt and Mesa counties in Colorado, all of which have longtime energy extraction industries, including coal-fired power plants and oil and gas leases. 

Statewide, adding renewable energy projects to existing oil and gas leaseholds on public lands could unlock more than 1,000 gigawatts of potential generating capacity.

The environmental permitting could be expedited, Dorsey said, because the existing leases would already have been approved through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Solar and wind development on federally owned lands can generate meaningful local revenue for counties, Dorsey said, even though the underlying federal land is exempt from property taxation.

“There can be revenue generation for federal royalties or fees associated with the energy development, as well as those tertiary benefits, such as increased employment, local procurement, and infrastructure investment during construction and operations,” she said.

The study showed that residents were most concerned  about wildlife protection, local hiring and workforce training, decommissioning, transparency and local economic benefits.

“We really found that those were factors that can make or break community acceptance for a project,” she said. 

“Local governments should continue to consider proactive opportunities that can benefit their communities — thinking about revenue generation [and] community benefits that you’d like to see from energy projects being built, especially those co-located energy projects … and also thinking about the risks for such projects, traffic and other impacts.”

Those impacts are part of a county’s leverage when it comes to having input on development on federally owned land. Consultation during the NEPA review is critical to providing that feedback and setting expectations for developers.

Applying to be a cooperating agency in the NEPA process is just as important, said former Lincoln County, Nev. Commissioner Varlin Higbee, a board member of the Lincoln County Regional Development Authority.

“We’ve had several big transmission lines come through our county, and by being [a] cooperating agency, we had the ability to put in conditions … that they’ve got to fix the roads and put them back the way they were,” he said. 

“There’re certain things that they have to do to make things whole, because they’re probably using county roads, they[’re] going to use your gravel pits.

“Cooperating agency status is huge.”