Renewable Energy

Achieving Major Milestones

The BLM has surpassed the goal of permitting 25 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy projects on public lands. As of April 2024, BLM has permitted 67 geothermal, 53 solar, 41 wind, and 42 renewable energy gen-tie projects (transmission lines that cross public lands to connect renewable energy projects that have been developed on private lands to the grid). Combined, these projects have a total capacity of nearly 29 GW of power—enough to power over 12 million homes. Deployment of these clean energy projects is crucial to achieving the Biden Administration’s goal of a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035.
 

Expanding Renewable Energy

Significant portions of BLM public lands have excellent solar, wind, and geothermal energy potential, and the BLM works to provide appropriate sites for environmentally sound development of renewable energy.

As the Department continues its momentum to spur a clean energy future, as of April, 2024, the BLM is processing an additional 66 utility-scale clean energy projects—with the potential to produce more than 32 GW of renewable energy—in the western United States. In addition, BLM is undertaking the preliminary review of nearly 200 applications for solar and wind development, as well as more than 100 applications for solar and wind energy site testing.

For more information on the BLM’s efforts to expand renewable energy use, visit these program pages:

• BLM's National Renewable Energy Strategy
• Active Renewable Energy Projects
• List of BLM Approved Solar Wind Geothermal and Gen-tie Projects

Latest Updates

The BLM has announced its final Renewable Energy Rule promoting responsible solar and wind energy development on public lands. Learn more at https://www.blm.gov/renewable-energy-rule. 

In addition, in January 2024 the BLM released its Draft Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, which considers updates to the 2012 Western Solar Plan. For more information, please visit the Utility-Scale Solar Energy Development PEIS/RMPA project page