Fighting the backlash against clean energy

I think most people would believe that renewable energy projects would be embraced and welcomed by everyone on the planet. As I have witnessed, that is far from reality.

Solar, wind, and waste-to-fuel projects are facing the kind of well-organized and well-funded opposition from environmentalists, labor unions and the local public that you would expect to see if an energy company proposed to construct a nuclear electric generation facility with an attached high security prison housing violent criminals (see enXco wind power project hits snag in Washington and UK wind market outlook doubles).

What is going on here? While working in the public affairs profession for the last 15 years, I have never before witnessed such aggressive opposition towards a more clearly beneficial industry movement. I thought it was the environmentalists who were driving energy companies to invest billions of dollars in clean, sustainable energy technology and get it to market as fast as possible.

Despite a decades-long movement by the environmental lobby to advance alternative energy projects, there are other environmental advocates working to kill renewable energy projects today. Strange… but true.

Jim Harvey—founder of the Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy, an environmental group in Joshua Tree, Calif.—told the New York Times recently: "We support renewable energy, and we support California’s renewable energy targets, but we think it can be done through rooftop solar." In other words, he has nothing against solar projects, but he opposes their location.

Despite prevailing public sentiment on a national level favoring clean energy, politically savvy activists such as Harvey are mobilizing residents and special-interest groups to exert political pressure against renewable energy projects, and against the transmission lines that will carry the power, with increasing frequency. They are making enough noise to create costly interference.

For example, local community groups and environmentalists disrupted plans for the 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farm Project located in San Louis Obispo County, Calif., according to a project update posted on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Web site.

Topaz would be among the largest utility-scale photovoltaic projects in the world—and the project applicant, OptiSolar, had California utility Pacific Gas & Electric lined up to buy the power—but, alas, it stalled (see PG&E mega solar deal sparks industry).

The project update states that "local residents describe themselves as desert survivors who are unhappy about the proliferation of solar projects planned for their home turf."

This is a common scenario that plays out when the project applicant fails to implement an effective stakeholder education program from the earliest planning stages through final permit approvals.

Greg Miller, renewable energy program manager for the Bureau of Land Management’s California Desert District, thinks public education plays an important role in overcoming project opposition.

"Stakeholder education and supporter mobilization should not be overlooked by project developers pursuing renewable energy projects," Miller said. "Performed correctly, it's a critical element that could easily prevent costly delays in the permitting process."

Land-use, by virtue of its dependence on government approvals, is a political process largely influenced by public opinion. Government officials are accountable to the people they represent. This means they will evaluate the merits of any land-use project as much on the basis of public support as allowable uses, good planning and quality design.

Not only are opponents to renewable energy projects mobilizing with greater frequency, many have become much more sophisticated in their approach.

Often times, while the project applicant is pursuing land-use permits at the local level—from the city or county where the project will be sited—opponents start setting traps at the state level. By the time local permits have been issued and the project is headed to the state capital for state permits, the project is already mired in controversy and facing costly delays. OptiSolar fell victim to this approach on the Topaz project.

Worries over the impact on wildlife are also dragging out the permit process for OptiSolar. The area is home to the endangered San Joaquin kit fox, and animals including the tule elk, pronghorn antelope, burrowing owl and California condor, according to the state Fish and Game Department.

"Because of habitat needs, [the animals] wouldn't be able to coexist with the solar project," the department said in the Chamber report.

The department's solution: "For every acre of wetland and riparian habitat lost to OptiSolar's project, the company should purchase an acre of land and convert it into livable habitat."

These initial permitting difficulties will only be magnified by the nation's economic downturn, which has hit OptiSolar hard (see OptiSolar drops manufacturing as it seeks a buyer and First Solar buys OptiSolar's pipeline of projects for $400M).

Here is my simple advice for a cleantech company pursuing land-use approvals for a project: Hire a public affairs firm and implement a public education strategy to inform the masses and mobilize your supporters. Do this early and don’t let up. You will face opposition and it will be well organized, well funded and tenacious.

For most of the energy projects that have been killed or delayed by opposition, a strategic stakeholder education effort could have addressed issues early in the process and produced a mutually beneficial outcome.

By implementing a stakeholder education program early, project applicants can reach key decision-makers with expressions of support throughout the permitting process and insulate the project from negative claims, creating a political climate that favors timely approvals. It’s an approach that can yield a greater return on investment while supplying additional power to the grid much faster, satisfying the public's demand for more clean energy.

In this new era of government accountability and politically savvy activists, implementing a stakeholder education program isn't just advisable for renewable energy projects. It's vital.

Andy Andersen is a partner with Passantino Andersen, a strategic communications firm with offices in Central and Southern California. His land-use experience includes political due-diligence, stakeholder education, supporter mobilization and opposition management for numerous residential, retail and renewable energy projects. For information, visit his Web site or contact him at andy@passantinoandersen.com.

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