Aspen Plays A Significant Role In Wind Energy Development
Wind energy is an important element of California’s energy portfolio. According to the California Energy Commission, the state’s wind energy projects provide 5,644 megawatts of generating capacity, which is enough to power more than 2 million California households. As of 2016, wind energy accounted for 39 percent of California’s renewable energy production.
Wind energy has a long history in California. The state’s early commercial wind energy projects were constructed in the late 1970s and early 1980s in places like the Tehachapi Pass, San Gorgonio Pass, and Altamont Pass. There has been another surge in wind energy development over the past ten years. In fact, wind energy capacity has increased by more than 300 percent since the initial adoption of the state’s Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS), which mandates that an increasing percentage of electrical energy generated in California must come from renewable sources. The current RPS requires that 33 percent of electrical energy be generated from renewable sources by 2020 and this amount must increase to 50 percent by the year 2030.
Aspen has had a significant role in wind energy development as well as in California’s RPS. Aspen has conducted environmental analysis pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for wind energy projects with a total combined capacity of over 3,500 megawatts. This includes major wind energy projects like the Alta Wind Project in Kern County (the largest wind farm in the US at the time) and the Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility in Imperial County. In addition, Aspen has conducted programmatic CEQA and NEPA analysis for more than 4,500 megawatts of wind energy development. Other services Aspen has provided for wind energy projects include biological resource surveys, avian mortality studies, jurisdictional delineations, cultural resource surveys, mitigation monitoring, and public policy formulation.
In addition, Aspen has also played a major role in providing environmental review and compliance services for the transmission infrastructure upgrades that have been needed to connect wind and other renewable energy projects to the state’s electrical grid. For example, Aspen prepared the EIR/EIS documents for the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project and the Sunrise Powerlink, which both deliver wind and solar energy. More recently, Aspen assisted the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in the construction of the Barren Ridge Renewable Transmission Project, which also delivers wind and solar energy.
Aspen continues to be very involved with wind energy. The County of Santa Barbara recently selected Aspen to prepare an EIR for the 102-megawatt Strauss Wind Energy Project, which will be the first wind energy project on California’s central coast. Projects like this will help ensure that wind energy continues to be an important part of California’s energy future.