On May 14, 2025, the Department of the Interior (DOI) issued a press release signaling its intent to significantly increase annual rents and fees for renewable energy projects on federal lands by rescinding the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Renewable Energy Rule that took effect in July 2024. The recission also would remove certain elements of BLM’s application processing regulations and may reinstate the framework in place under BLM’s old regulations that had been in effect since 2017. The following assessment summarizes the current state of BLM’s renewable energy regulations and what could happen next, [...]

On May 1, 2025, the House Natural Resources Committee released a draft budget reconciliation bill that, if enacted, could increase long-term costs for wind and solar energy projects on federal lands. The bill would replace the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) current capacity fee formula with a flat percentage of gross revenue, double acreage rent for wind projects, and eliminate BLM's discretion to lower charges. The bill is currently in draft form and has not been signed into law. As part of the budget reconciliation process – a legislative procedure that allows certain fiscal measures [...]

Questions Remain Around BLM’s Renewable Energy Rents Rule The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) July 2024 Renewable Energy Rule reduces annual costs of operating wind and solar energy projects on federal lands, but its complexity makes it difficult for developers and financiers to forecast BLM charges and decide whether to opt in by July 1, 2026. The Renewable Energy Rule overhauls how the agency charges annual rents and capacity fees for renewable energy rights-of-way. Please refer to our article on the original rule for an overview of its major components. The rule generally lowers [...]

On 11 April 2024 the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a prepublication copy of a final rule that will reduce annual rent and capacity fees for wind and solar energy rights-of-way (ROWs), allow noncompetitive leasing in Designated Leasing Areas (DLAs), modify BLM’s approach to prioritizing applications, and make other changes to the application process. The rule will take effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. Rents and Capacity Fees The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 directs BLM to collect fair market value for use of public lands. Under [...]

On 23 September 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom jumpstarted the state’s offshore wind energy industry by signing Assembly Bill (AB) 525 into law. AB 525 directs the California Energy Commission (CEC) to coordinate with other state agencies to develop a long-term strategic plan for offshore wind development in federal waters off the California coast. The bill also requires the CEC to establish statewide offshore wind capacity goals for 2030 and 2045 by the middle of 2022. These steps will lay the groundwork for large-scale installations off California’s 840-mile coast in the coming decades. Background [...]

Yesterday, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced a solicitation of public input on a proposed revision of the agency’s renewable energy permitting regulations. BLM intends to publish a proposed rule in early 2022. The BLM announcement includes links to two national and two regional listening sessions held between 14 September and 26 September where stakeholders can provide oral comments. BLM invites written comments within the same timeframe as well. BLM is specifically interested in comments on multiple topics that have been controversial within the renewable energy industry since BLM’s last retooling of its [...]