IMPERIAL COUNTYRENEWABLE ENERGY FACT SHEETMARCH 2017

Imperial County has seen significant interest in renewable

energy development and in September 2015 it completed

an amendment to its General Plan to support projects

that use geothermal, solar, wind, biofuels and biomass

resources. Its Revised Renewable Energy Resources Ordi-

nance is used to implement a Renewable Energy Overlay

Zone in the Renewable Energy and Transmission Element

of the county General Plan. The element is integrated with

regulations of other government agencies that regulate

renewable energy development.

POLICIES AND OVERSIGHT The Imperial County Planning and Development Services

Department oversees services including long-range

planning and updated two elements of its General Plan

for renewable energy and conservation. The Geothermal/

Alternative Energy and Transmission Element provides a

framework for the review and approval of county renew-

able energy projects. The Conservation and Open Space

Element addresses the balanced use, management,

and maintenance of environmental resources, including

biological and cultural resources, and open space and

recreation. These plan Elements help the county:

» Examine resources that may be impacted by future

renewable energy development

» Identify areas suitable for development

» Review areas around the Salton Sea that are eligible

for renewable energy and/or habitat conservation

» Review proposed transmission corridors and impacts

» Develop and identify potential sites for endangered

and threatened species

» Prepare applicable environmental documents

RENEWABLE PROJECTS AND GENERATING CAPACITYThe Energy Commission’s December 2016 Renewable En-

ergy Tracking Progress report shows that Imperial County

(incorporated and unincorporated areas) had 45 whole-

sale renewable energy projects on-line with a capacity

of 2,254 MW. In addition, there were 6 MW of distributed

generation systems, like rooftop solar, installed at homes

and buildings in the county. Also, there are 15 solar PV

projects with a combined capacity of 1,116 MW and 3

geothermal projects with a combined capacity of 212

MW with environmental permits in the county that could

become operational in the future.

EFFORTS TIED TO THE DESERT RENEWABLE ENERGY CONSERVATION PLAN (DRECP) Imperial County is one of seven counties that are working

with state and federal agencies on the development of

the DRECP, a major component of California’s renewable

energy planning efforts. The DRECP is a landscape-scale,

multi-agency planning effort for 22.5 million acres in

California’s desert. It will provide for the conservation

of desert ecosystems while facilitating the appropriate

development of renewable energy projects.

Imperial County was part of the Stakeholder

Committee that informed the plan’s development, and

it submitted comments on the draft DRECP released in

September 2014.

Edmund G. Brown Jr.Governor

Robert B. WeisenmillerChair

CommissionersKaren DouglasDavid HochschildAndrew McAllisterJanea A. Scott

CALIFORNIAENERGY COMMISSION

CEC-700-2015-002-FS

It was one of five counties—along with Inyo, Los Angeles,

Riverside and San Bernardino—in the DRECP area that

applied for and received a Renewable Energy Conserva-

tion Planning Grant (RECPG) from the Energy Commission.

Under MOUs signed with the state, these five counties

formed cooperative relationships to effectively plan for

and promote renewable energy development in a way

that advances the counties’ and state’s renewable energy

policies and initiatives.

Imperial County received two grants totaling $1.1

million to update elements of its General Plan. The first

grant, for $700,000, supported developing the Geother-

mal/Alternative Energy and Transmission Element update

and prepared a Programmatic Environmental Impact Re-

port (PEIR). (Forecasts from the draft DRECP were used to

develop projections for this update.) This update and the

final EIR were approved by the county in September 2015.

The second grant for $400,000 was used to update the

Conservation and Open Space Element, which the county

approved in March 2016.

More information about renewable energy projects

in Imperial County can be found on the county’s Planning

and Development Services Department web pages.

On-Line Renewable Energy Projects In Imperial County (as of October 31, 2016)*

* The information provided in this table is based on data from the

Quarterly Fuel and Energy Report (QFER), California Public Utilities

Commission (CPUC) RPS Project Status Table, Energy Commission S2/

S5 Forms, CPUC “Currently Interconnected Data Set” (March 2016),

SB1 Solar Program Status Reports, and Imperial Irrigation District Net

Energy Metering Program Webpage

Utility-Scale Capacity (>20 MW)

Type

Geothermal 63014

1

1

10

33

265 - -

26 2,010 MW 19 244 MW 6 MW

7 60

1,082

6

6 96

88

Small Hydro

Solar PV

Wind

Total

Total MW

No. of Projects

No. of Projects

Total MW Total MW

Distributed-Scale Capacity

(1-20 MW)

Behind-the-Meter Capacity

(MW)