SunPower, First Solar agree to add more wildlife protect areas to solar projects

SunPower, First Solar agree to add more wildlife protect areas to solar projects

Chris Meehan

Aug 10, 2011

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The environmental groups won’t take actions against SunPower's 250-megawatt California Valley Solar Ranch or the 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farm, according to SunPower spokesperson Ingrid Ekstrom.

In exchange SunPower and First Solar agreed to increase their conservation efforts to reduce the impact on imperiled species, including the San Joaquin kit fox and giant kangaroo rats.

Under the agreements, the companies will add more than 9,000 acres to the 17,000 acres they already agreed to preserve. In all, roughly 40 square miles of the Carrizo Plain are being protected because of the projects, according to a jointly issued statement. The companies also will remove 30 miles of fencing through the area, allowing greater wildlife traffic, and they pledged to not use any rodenticides, according to the statement.

“We’re pleased with the agreement,” said David Graham-Caso, a Sierra Club spokesperson. “There are significant wins with the environmental community.”

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Statement on Settlement Agreement Between National Environmental Organizations and Solar Development Companies Regarding San Luis Obispo Solar Projects

Governor Brown Commends Agreement

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (August 9, 2011) - Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife and Center for Biological Diversity issued a statement today with SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA, SPWRB) and Topaz Solar Farms, LLC, a subsidiary of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), on a settlement agreement regarding two solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant projects in development in San Luis Obispo County, Calif.

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The conservation organizations and solar development companies said: “Defenders of Wildlife, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, Topaz and SunPower have reached an agreement to provide additional conservation protections for the Carrizo Plain in eastern San Luis Obispo County, Calif., where SunPower’s 250-megawatt California Valley Solar Ranch and Topaz’s 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farm are planned for the generation of renewable solar power for delivery to California’s grid.

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The projects are located in the Carrizo Plain, a core recovery area for endangered San Joaquin kit fox and giant kangaroo rats. While both companies have previously agreed to significant commitments to protect and preserve species in this important habitat area and have received project approvals based on environmental reviews by various federal, state and local agencies, with this agreement SunPower and Topaz commit to provide a suite of additional environmental benefits to further increase protection of the area. This agreement provides for additional conservation for the remaining unprotected lands in the northern Carrizo Plain above and beyond those provided under existing local, state and federal permits.

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The parties negotiated in good faith and recognize that many challenges may be minimized or avoided in the future through earlier, more comprehensive communication between conservation groups and the solar companies with the goal to locate projects outside of important wildlife areas and sensitive natural resources. Our organizations strongly support the development of renewable energy in California to reduce carbon emissions and transition away from fossil fuels, and believe that renewable energy projects must be located and designed in the most sustainable manner possible to ensure that projects move forward expeditiously and avoid, minimize, and mitigate their impacts on our native wildlife and natural landscapes.”

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