Altagas attempts to push 70MW wind farm plan through BLM

US: Canadian electric and gas utility Altagas has proposed to install a 70MW wind farm on US federal land in California.

by Tamar Wilner 9 July 2010

Interior secretary Ken Salazar promised to speed up wind farm applications on Federal land

Calgary-based AltaGas plans to place 29 to 42 turbines on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) property on Walker Ridge, in western Colusa County and eastern Lake County.

But despite efforts by interior secretary Ken Salazar to speed up permitting for federal lands, AltaGas project development director Peter Eaton said: "BLM is swamped with renewable energy applications."

Early in Barack Obama’s presidency, Salazar issued an order prioritising renewable power development on public lands, and establishing an inter-agency panel to remove obstacles to development.

He also dedicated over $40million in federal stimulus package money to establish renewable energy coordination offices in several western states.

BLM controls 264million acres, or about 13% of the country’s land surface, mostly in western states.

AltaGas owns the 102MW Bear Mountain Wind Park, the only wind farm in British Columbia. The company does not have any installations in the US.