Solar Energy Farms Face Tricky Problems Regarding The Williamson Act Attempting To Fulfill AB32 Targets

Our California state legislature enacted the California Global warming Solutions Act of 2006 and mandates California's greenhouse gas emissions be decreased to 1990 values by the end of 2020 in order to decrease the serious danger global warming poses for the financial well-being, general public health and wellness and the environment of California. The California legislature has enacted several laws and regulations designed to guard California's natural resources for generations to come. Our California Land Conservation Act of 1965, much more commonly known as the Williamson Act, was initially enacted for the purpose of protecting agricultural land throughout California. To help accomplish this green house gas reduction goal, California started a Renewables Portfolio Standards program that seeks to add to the quantity of electricity generated from alternative power resources to thirty-three % of total retail electricity sales of throughout California per year by Dec 31, 2013.

Currently, California's electric utilities acquire just about eighteen percent of their electricity through alternative energy resources. In order to achieve California's environmentally friendly electricity generation goals, a substantial amount of additional solar energy farms as well as other renewable power generating capacity will have to be established within a very short time period. Currently, the usage of somewhere around 33 pct of California's total non-public acreage (or approximately, 16 million acres) is restricted by means of Williamson Act contracts.

Establishing big scale wind along with solar energy farm electrical energy projects generally requires using hundreds, or even 1000's, of acres of contiguous, undeveloped acreage. And this land must be offered at an economically affordable amount in order to make the wind turbine and/or solar energy farm developments economically workable. Land meeting this kind of criteria is normally only available in outlying areas. And therefore rural property is without question disproportionately likely to be governed by Williamson Act property use limits.

Even though solar projects typically have a problem satisfying the Williamson Act's compatibility rules due to the substantial percent of land occupied by the PV equipment, at least a few counties permit PV electricity ventures to be developed on non-prime agricultural property pursuant to a conditional use permit. If California is actually intent on realizing AB32's greenhouse gas reduction goals, California county government authorities will have to add solar energy farm ventures as an appropriate use for Williamson Act property, and allow solar power projects to be developed upon non-prime farming acreage pursuant to a conditional use permitting.

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