SITING, LEASING, AND PERMITTING OF CLEAN ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE UNITED STATES

In particular, the siting, leasing, and permitting stages of clean energy infrastructure development are increasingly presenting obstacles to private firms developing electric generation and transmission, even as demand accelerates.4 The Niskanen Center undertook research to better understand the existing regulatory structure and to identify opportunities to reduce inefficient and counterproductiv. [...] Generally, the collective purpose of siting, leasing, and permitting processes and their associated regulations is to identify a viable location for energy project development and authorize construction on that site, in a manner that captures potential project ben- efits and avoids, offsets and/or compensates negative impacts to communities and the environment.11 6. [...] S., large amounts of onshore wind and solar PV capacity have been installed in the last two decades, and the commercial maturity and cost-competitiveness of these resources have led decision-makers to feature continued expansion of wind and solar in long-term energy plans. [...] For example, the Department of Energy (DOE) recently launched the R-STEP program (Renewable Energy Siting through Technical Engagement and Planning), which “seeks to expand the decision- making capacity and expertise of state and local governments around large-scale renewable energy plan- ning, siting, and permitting” and intends to award five to seven states with grants of $1-2 million each.41 Fo. [...] Oil and gas companies lease land under the BLM process and then invest in a variety of exploration activities with the goal of finding and producing oil and gas.