Trump Administration Approves Largest Solar Farm in U.S., Expected to Power 260,000 Homes
The Trump administration approved a proposal Monday to construct and operate the largest solar power project in U.S. history, issuing a final permit for a massive facility just north of Las Vegas.
The $1 billion Gemini project would be the eighth-largest solar facility in the world, the Interior Department said, generating 690-megawatts of power, enough electricity for 260,000 homes in the Las Vegas area and potential markets in Southern California.
Nevada utility NV Energy, a subsidiary of billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, is providing financial backing to the project, which will be completed as early as 2022. It will generate more than $3 million annually in federal revenues, the Interior Department said.
The Trump administration cast the decision as representative of its “all of the above” approach to increasing U.S. energy production on public lands, which critics say has been mostly focused on fossil fuels. President Trump has frequently criticized renewable power, questioning its reliability. The administration also touted the project as a job-creator for an area hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Interior Department said construction of the facility, spanning some 7,100 acres of federal land, would create 500 to 700 temporary jobs, along with 1,100 support jobs during that time. (Read more from “Trump Administration Approves Largest Solar Farm in U.S., Expected to Power 260,000 Homes” HERE)
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