Trump administration approves $2.5-billion energy project near Joshua Tree National Park

Sammy Roth | Palm Springs Desert Sun

President Donald Trump is known for supporting fossil fuels: coal, oil and gas. But his administration approved an energy project Wednesday that could benefit renewable energy sources like solar and wind — and some environmentalists won't be happy.

The Bureau of Land Management said it would allow a proposed hydropower plant to move forward in the California desert east of Palm Springs, just outside Joshua Tree National Park. Supporters say the $2.5-billion "pumped storage" project could be used to store excess electricity generated by solar and wind farms, allowing that clean energy to power California after dark, or during times when the wind isn't blowing. But critics say the hydroelectric power project would drain billions of gallons from a desert aquifer and harm species such as bighorn sheep, golden eagles and desert tortoises, on public lands surrounded on three sides by one of the country's most popular national parks.

CLIMATE POINT: Subscribe to out climate change, energy and environment newsletter

DESERT SUN INVESTIGATES: Meet the farmer building a water and energy empire

Eagle Crest Energy Company's 1,300-megawatt hydropower project "advanc(es) the Administration's goals of promoting America’s energy independence and supporting infrastructure needs," the Bureau of Land Management said in a statement.

"Our public lands provide for a wide variety of uses, including opportunities to facilitate secure, American-generated energy to our local communities," Doug Herrema, who runs the federal agency's Palm Springs-based field office, said in a statement. "This right-of-way is anticipated to transmit hydroelectric energy to power 900,000 homes in California each year."

Former Joshua Tree National Park superintendent Mark Butler, who has publicly opposed the Eagle Crest project since retiring in 2014, said the energy project would "really change the ecosystem in that area of the park," and have "significant radiating effects into Joshua Tree."

"It's folly to build a water resources project of this type in the desert, and rely on ancient groundwater to provide for a pumped storage project," said Butler, who serves on the executive council of the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks.

Federal officials are describing Eagle Crest's hydropower plant as a $2.5-billion project. Stephen Razo, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management, said in an email that he believes the figure "represents the investment in terms of cost to build, maintain, and operate over the 50-year lease."

Eagle Crest has partnered on the hydropower project with NextEra Energy Resources, one of the country's biggest renewable energy developers. The project would be built in the Eagle Mountain area, on a property as close as 1.5 miles to the edge of the national park. The proposal's supporters include politicians from both parties, including state Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, a Democrat who represents the eastern Coachella Valley, and U.S. Rep. Paul Cook, a Republican from California's high desert.

It's still far from clear the project will be built. The Bureau of Land Management's decision allows the developer to build a 12-mile transmission line and a water pipeline across federal lands. But Eagle Crest has yet to announce a power purchase contract to sell the electricity the hydropower plant would generate, a key step before construction begins. Eagle Crest also missed its construction start deadline of June 30, 2018.

Cook has proposed a bill in Congress that would allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend the construction start deadline specifically for Eagle Crest's project until 2024. Congress has yet to act on the bill, which Cook introduced in May.

TRUMP VS. CALIFORNIA: The desert environmental battle nobody's talking about

DESERT SOLAR: Trump administration approves solar farm outside Joshua Tree

The hydropower plant would be built on land used for iron mining after being carved out of Joshua Tree National Monument, the predecessor to the national park. Eagle Crest would use the site's abandoned mining pits as reservoirs, pumping water from the lower pit to the upper pit when there's more solar and wind power flooding the grid than Californians need. Then when the state needs more power, the company would release water back to the lower pit through a hydroelectric generator, producing electricity.

Supporters say "pumped storage" technology could help California increase its reliance on climate-friendly energy and move away from polluting fossil fuels. In a statement released Wednesday by Eagle Crest, Cook, the Republican member of Congress, said the company's project "is critical to meet California’s future energy needs."

"This is an environmentally friendly solution that will also benefit the local economy — providing approximately 763 jobs during construction and generating more than one hundred million dollars in annual income for California residents," Cook said.

Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Pérez, a Democrat who represents the Coachella Valley, also praised Eagle Crest's project in a statement released by the company.

"Protecting our environmental treasures has always been at the top of my agenda, but Eagle Mountain is a heavily disturbed mining site that has been stripped of vegetation and has limited value to wildlife or recreation," Pérez said. "Repurposing this site

will create hundreds of local jobs and generate millions of dollars in revenue for Riverside County."

Butler, the former Joshua Tree superintendent, thinks the site is inappropriate for an industrial energy project. He said the planned hydropower plant could have significant impacts to the national park, such as attracting ravens that would prey on desert tortoises. He also thinks other energy technologies for storing wind and solar power, such as small-scale batteries, will continue to get cheaper.

"Technology does have the potential to make these types of projects not necessary," Butler said.

Sammy Roth writes about energy and the environment for The Desert Sun. He can be reached at sammy.roth@desertsun.com, (760) 778-4622 and @Sammy_Roth.