Energy Policymakers in the Spotlight: Rick Buss and Eric Fitzer, Gila Bend, AZ

 Best practices: simplifying regulation

Instead of a one-size-fits-all zoning process, they tailored the zoning processes to the estimated level of impact—A master-planned subdivision goes through a lengthy, strict permitting process; a solar development goes through a shorter, simplified process.  Gila Bend, as a result, is attracting more solar development proposals than most any other place in the country.

Best practices: working with property owners and other stakeholders

Rick Buss and Eric Fitzer initiated conversations with property owners and other stakeholders. They respected private investment concerns and worked with property owners to add value to their properties while ensuring regulations were flexible to meet future technology improvements and market forces. They also educated stakeholders on environmental questions, such as how much water would be used for solar energy development and generation.

Advice for other AZ communities

Arizona towns and counties can foster local industries by assessing their locality’s strengths and abilities and supporting them with common-sense policies. Eric Fitzer urges communities throughout Arizona to “enact policies where you can capture the supply chain. There’s no reason we should be buying any products outside of AZ.” He points to Tempe as a community taking such an approach. Its density is an obstacle to utility-scale solar, but its strength lies in its knowledge base, and notes that it is a growing hub for solar research and development.

Background on Innovative Zoning for Streamlined Solar Permitting Process

In 2009, Eric Fitzer met with a property owner in Gila Bend who had intended to build a master-planned community before the real estate market crashed.  Solar developers had approached the property owner, but this potential new development faced the same lengthy permitting process as the previously planned use. Eric then met with Rick Buss to discuss why the permitting process was the same for both projects, despite the difference in projected impacts.

Large-scale, large-footprint projects, which Rick had worked on before arriving in Gila Bend, go through rigorous permitting and environmental assessment processes. These processes are directly related to the scale of the project’s footprint. But the established zoning and permitting process for solar development in Gila Bend was unrelated to the project’s projected footprint.  Instead, the processes only served to add uncertainty to solar development and hinder investment.

To find a solution, Rick and Eric looked to successful zoning initiatives in other places, researched zoning overlay laws in Arizona and drafted the new zoning initiative only after first learning from stakeholders about their priorities and concerns. They found that solar’s physical impacts to an area were minimal, while the benefits were great: in addition to expediting the generation of homegrown energy, the solar overlay zoning acts as a town marketing tool.  It also increases property values by opening the land up to a whole new market of purchasers or leasees – solar developers. Through this added zoning layer, Gila Bend turned a $1 million plot of land into a $70 million plot of land. The simplified zoning process has contributed to the 2011 completion of two utility-scale solar developments online with APS, with several more developments planned.  Gila Bend now has 34 MW of installed capacity, with 280 MW under construction, and envisions 3,000-5,000 MW of installed capacity, based on today’s technologies.

Sources for this article

http://www.gilabendaz.org/CommunityDevServices.html
http://energy.gov/articles/could-gila-bend-arizona-become-solar-capital-world
Gila Bend Transmission Initiative presentation
http://www.gilabendaz.org/GilaBendTransmissionInitiative.html
Gila Bend App (free in Itunes)
Gila Bend General Plan final 2006 http://www.gilabendaz.org/PlanningEconDev.html

Contact information

Gila Bend, AZ
644 W. Pima Street,
P.O. Box A
Gila Bend, AZ 85337
928-683-2255
fbuss@gilabendaz.org
efitzer@gilabendaz.org