BLM is setting up Renewable Energy Coordination offices to expedite the permitting of wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal projects, along with needed electrical transmission facilities, on BLM-managed lands. The action was taken by out-going Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to achieve the Congressional goal in Section 211 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which calls for the development of 10,000 megawatts of non-hydropower renewable energy projects on the public lands by 2015.
A couple months ago, BLM released their plans for geothermal energy development in the Western U.S. which focused on the Basin and Range areas of Arizona, but left out the San Francisco Volcanic Field, which may have some of the best geothermal potential in the state.