BLM Seeks Public Input on 700 MW Solar Project in La Paz County

The Bureau of Land Management opened a 45-day public comment window in January 2025 on a draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Ranegras Plains Energy Center, a proposed 700-megawatt solar and battery storage facility that would cover more than 5,000 acres of public desert south of Interstate 10 in eastern La Paz County, roughly 30 miles east of Quartzsite near the Vicksburg Road exit.

Ranegras Plains Energy Center, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Savion Energy, LLC, which is itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell New Energies US, LLC, applied to the BLM's Yuma Field Office for a 40-year right-of-way grant to construct, operate, maintain, and eventually decommission the facility. If approved, the project would generate up to 700 megawatts alternating current from as many as 1.3 million solar PV modules, paired with a battery energy storage system, enough capacity to power more than 200,000 homes according to the BLM.

The project footprint described in the Draft EIS covers 5,029 acres of BLM-administered land, plus 56 acres of Arizona State Trust land. An 11-mile, 500-kilovolt generation-interconnect transmission line would cross six acres of private land to connect the facility to the Ten West Link 500-kV transmission line at the Delaney Colorado River Transmission Ten West Link Series Compensation Station. The site sits in remote, unpopulated desert and rangeland west of metropolitan Phoenix; the closest residential communities are New Hope, Brenda, and Vicksburg.

"The BLM supports efficient development of renewable energy on our nation's public lands to create clean energy and reduce carbon pollution from the power sector, which furthers the goals outlined in the Energy Act of 2020," said BLM Yuma Field Manager Ray Castro. "We will continue to engage with Tribal, Federal, state, and local governments, local communities, stakeholder groups, and industry as we evaluate this project."

The Draft EIS, prepared in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, analyzes four alternatives, including a No Action Alternative under which the BLM would deny the right-of-way and the project would not be built on public land, and the Proposed Action under which the full 700 MW facility would proceed.

The public comment period was triggered by the EPA's publication of a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register on January 10, 2025, which set a 45-day window for submissions. However, the official end date was complicated by inconsistencies across agency documents: the BLM stated the period ran January 10 through February 25, 2025, while the second page of the Draft EIS itself listed a hard deadline of 5:00 p.m. on February 24, 2025. The BLM's ePlanning website, published before the Draft EIS was released, listed February 28, 2025 as the close of the comment period, and several outlets reported that later date as well. Residents and stakeholders were advised to confirm the operative deadline directly with the BLM before submitting.

A virtual public meeting was held February 5, 2025 at 6 p.m. via Zoom, with registration required through the BLM National NEPA Register project page. Comments could also be submitted by mail or hand delivery to the BLM Yuma Field Office, Attention: Ranegras Plains Energy Center Project, 7341 E. 30th Street, Yuma, AZ 85365. For questions or to request reasonable accommodations, BLM contact Derek Eysenbach was available at 602-417-9505.