The Trump administration for the first time in months is advancing a major solar power project.
The Bureau of Land Management on Monday issued a decision record authorizing a series of mostly minor revisions to the Libra Solar power project in southwestern Nevada that has been sitting in regulatory limbo for more than a year after its approval during the Biden administration.
The amended plan — the first move in months to advance one of the dozens of utility-scale solar power projects sitting in the permitting pipeline since President Donald Trump took office in January — means the project could begin construction next year, according to BLM.
It’s in stark contrast to Interior Department moves in the past six months. In July, the department announced that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum or other top leaders must sign off on each step of a wind or solar project on federal lands. A couple weeks later, Interior said agencies must consider the “capacity density” of energy projects, which observers said could disadvantage certain renewable energy projects.
