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Arizona State Office
One North Central Avenue
Suite 800
Phoenix, AZ 85004-4427
The Arizona desert is prime territory for the use of sunlight to produce energy. The state has an annual average of 325 sunny days, wide open spaces, and an increasing need to locate and take advantage of “green” energy opportunities. The use of solar energy can be found today all over Arizona on private land. Small commercial facilities such as the photovoltaic array in Springerville, and self-supporting structures such as streetlights and weather stations are everywhere. With large-scale projects on the horizon. Arizona is the land of sunshine and opportunity.
In 2008, BLM Arizona experienced a “gold rush” of right-of-way applications for solar facilities across the state. Solar development companies or “prospectors” are looking at portions of the 12.2 million acres of public land administered by the BLM in Arizona as potential areas for solar power generators. Interest in using public lands for solar development has carried over to 2010.
Arizona BLM is processing these applications concurrently with the Department of Energy’s and the BLM Washington Office’s work on a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for Solar Energy Development involving the BLM lands in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah. Completion of the PEIS will facilitate the processing of solar right-of-way applications. Further information on the PEIS is available on the Solar Energy Development Programmatic EIS web site.
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