Overview
- The BLM’s NEPA register now lists the Esmeralda 7 environmental review as “cancelled,” ending a single, consolidated assessment for seven contiguous utility-scale plants in Esmeralda County.
- Interior said BLM and the applicants “agreed to change their approach,” moving from a programmatic review to allowing individual project filings for impact analysis.
- Esmeralda 7 was scoped at roughly 119,000 acres (about 185 square miles) near NV Energy’s Greenlink corridor with an estimated 6.2 GW of capacity, involving NextEra, Invenergy, Leeward and Arevia.
- Conservation groups and many local residents opposed the plan over potential harm to bighorn sheep habitat, rare plants and cultural and paleontological resources, and some welcomed the cancellation.
- Observers say the shift reflects the administration’s tougher review posture for renewables on public lands and could signal delays or withdrawals for other large solar projects awaiting BLM action.