Breckenridge Destinations supports independent journalism. Click for great deals on vacation lodging in Breckenridge.
Inspector general recommends tighter bonding, monitoring requirements and competitive bidding for leases
Renewable energy development of public lands is booming, but the federal government may not be keeping up on the management side.
By Bob Berwyn
SUMMIT COUNTY — The Bureau of Land Management needs to tighten up its collection procedures and beef up bonding requirements to ensure that the public gets a fair return on lands leased for renewable wind and solar projects, according to a Department of Interior inspector general report released last month.
The absence of a process to ensure timely collections on wind rental revenues on 22 projects resulted in a loss of $1.2 million between 2009 and 2011, and shortfall in bonding of $8.5 million on 14 wind projects, the report found.
Insufficient bonding could leave the BLM at risk to future liability for reclamation and damage to natural resources.
In a couple of cases, field offices failed to update rental rates, claiming they had questions about how they were to be implemented and were still waiting for guidance from state-level offices.
The agency could also potentially generate millions of dollars in additional revenues if it used a competitive bidding process for renewable energy projects. The BLM is currently developing new rules that would guide a competitive bidding process for wind and solar energy development. (more…)
Filed under: BLM, energy, public lands, renewable energy | Tagged: BLM, Bureau of Land management, renewable energy, Solar Millennium AG | 1 Comment »
Arapahoe Basin supports independent journalism. Click to visit The Legend online.
Powder's falling at Monarch!! Have you reserved your spot yet?
Innovative energy underwrites coverage of energy stories.
