A curated source of industry-leading insight to optimize the environmental and social performance of infrastructure development for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Optinfra shares insight between infrastructure developers, regulators, financiers, and stakeholders because sharing is crucial for successful infrastructure project development. Successful project development requires the integration of diverse expertise essential for navigating the complex dimensions of environmental design, permitting, stakeholder engagement, and environmental monitoring. Each of these components demands specialized knowledge and skills, but they are interconnected, making communication across disciplines not just beneficial but critical for successful project development.
Browse the most recent content below, click the theme to find the complete list of links in chronological order, or search through all previous Optinfra links.
Projects
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With parks, reservoirs, and 30-45 farms under agricultural easements at stake, how will PJM manage opposition from stakeholder groups regarding the proposed “Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP) transmission line? Read more…
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Three groups that challenged the stalled Orsted Ocean Wind I and II projects take aim at the Atlantic Shores wind farm; new lawsuit alleges the project will impact coastal ecosystem. Read more…
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BOEM approves New England Wind 1 and 2, aka Commonwealth Wind and Park City Wind. Will the 15 year process of regional planning, leasing, site assessment, environmental assessment, and construction and operation planning be enough sufficient to actually develop the project? Read more…
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Land use and storm-water issues are at the center of debate over the Kansas Sky Energy Center solar project. Does a $17 million water pump stand in the way of the permitting process for the largest utility-scale solar project in Kansas? Read more…
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“It is most valuable in its undeveloped state.” Wisconsin town council votes to delay decision on rezoning for the Nemadji Trail gas-fired power plant amid controversy about the best use of the Nemadji River and buffer riparian area. Read more…
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A CO2 pipeline establishes a community benefits agreement and secures social license to repurpose an existing methane gas pipeline. Benefits of the Tallgrass/Trailblazer agreement include: $600k to first responders, $500k to nonprofits, and the choice of royalties or lump-sum payments for affected land owners. Read more…
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Three offshore wind projects, with a combined 4,000 MW+ capacity, fail to negotiate contracts with NYSERDA. Bigger turbines left the Attentive Energy One, Community Offshore Wind, and Excelsior Wind projects little room for negotiation amidst financial constraints. Read more…
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FERC’s final EIS recommends that the Goldendale Pumped Storage project should proceed. The ‘only’ problem? “The original occupants of the land don’t want it.” Read more…
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Despite “significant economic and environmental benefits,” National Grid pulled the plug on the Twin States Energy Project, as well as the proposed $260 million community benefit program. Political goodwill and the TFP weren’t enough for this low impact project. Read more…
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The Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) approved the 800-MW Oak Run Solar Project, but included 46 conditions ranging from setbacks, a $45 million decommissioning bond, and requirements to integrate 1,000 sheep and 2,000 crop acres in what would be the largest agrivoltaics project in the country. Read more…
Challenges
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Advocates argue for a level playing field between state and local benefit sharing requirements for renewable vs. fossil fuel energy projects. Read more…
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DOE’s new CITAP Program promises to increase efficiency of the environmental permitting process for transmission lines. But can more administrative meetings, timelines, and regulatory uncertainty overcome the risk of litigation, siting challenges, and construction delays? Read more…
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Anti-wind groups find fault with the BOEM’s Biological Opinion for the Atlantic Wind project; lawsuit alleges that the project will result in adverse impacts to North Atlantic Right Whales, while Dominion says the project will not be delayed and will follow NOAA-approved mitigation plans. Read more…
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A District judge reviews the Environmental Assessment for an oil and gas leasing program and reminds the BLM that it must “show its work and explain its reasoning.” The purpose of NEPA “is not to generate paperwork or litigation, but to provide for informed decision making and foster excellent action.” Read more…
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A review by the Niskanen Center finds 27% of a sample of 37 transmission line projects in the US faced opposition leading to project delays or cancellation. Conclusion? “There is no single solution to solve permitting challenges.” Read more…
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What to do when a project’s need contradicts state climate policy? Permits, lawsuits, and a project in limbo: the challenge before the D.C. Circuit Court. Read more…
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A review of infrastructure projects finds that negative stakeholder feedback is the most prominent reputational risk for G20 infrastructure projects. Read more…
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A journalist calls attention to ~$282 million worth of negotiated mitigation payments from offshore wind developers in New England. The most common beneficiaries? Community agreements with towns and direct support for fishers and aquariums. Read more…
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Hands tied, and a project still pending federal approval, Portsmouth Town Council agrees to a $23 million host community agreement with SouthCoast Wind Energy LLC. With only three weeks of public notice, the town agreed to a 33 year deal granting 2 miles of easement rights for an underground interconnection line to the offshore array 60 miles south of the Massachusetts state coastline. Read more…
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A Berkley Lab survey finds that renewable energy project cancellations average more than $2 million of sunk costs per project. The main reasons? Permitting delays caused by local ordinances and zoning, grid interconnection, and community opposition. Read more…
Opportunities
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When 500 NGOs and companies come together expressing support for agricultural easements, it may be time to listen: one view on the benefit of flexible agricultural easements for renewable energy development. Read more…
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“Department of Energy is offering up to $8.2 million for stakeholder teams to explore the viability of agrivoltaic systems for cattle grazing.” Read more…
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Phase 2 of the NIETC designation process is underway: DOE announces 10 regional transmission corridors and invites public input. On the line: streamlined siting authority and access to $2 billion in direct loans through the Transmission Facility Financing Program. Read more…
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Maintain social license to operate, increase the capacity of your workforce, and access $250 billion in low cost DOE funding: Community Benefits Plans (CBPs) share benefits with project stakeholders while benefiting the project and developer. Read more…
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The CEQ’s Phase 2 NEPA reforms revert back to 1978 regulations, emphasize that the “alternatives section is the heart of the environmental impact statement,” and introduce new uncertainty for the permitting process. Read more…
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Wind farms, manufacturing and real estate development: the link between them is not what you think. The Berkley Center for Law, Energy, & the Environment reviews Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) across multiple sectors. Read more…
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PennFuture publishes 100-page guide to local land use decision-making in Pennsylvania. Topics include: state and local land use laws, how public hearings and decision-making works, and tips for accessing and sharing information. Read more…
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One way to increase the efficiency of the NEPA process is to avoid Environmental Assessments: BLM adopts existing categorical exclusions from the US Forest Service and Dept. of the Navy to expedite geothermal energy permitting. Read more…
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Breaking: “Treating the public as ‘stakeholders’ rather than inconveniences” reduces risk during the permitting process. It may also help developers pass due diligence to secure project development insurance. Read more…
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Four years after its establishment, New York’s Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) is averaging eight months to approve large-scale solar and wind projects. Can it do the same for transmission lines? Read more…
Information Sharing for Improved Infrastructure Development – Optinfra Categories and Themes
Optinfra covers the most important themes for successful environmental assessment, permitting and public consultation. Our aim is to improve the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement by sharing information of relevance for all stakeholders in the development of infrastructure projects. We believe stakeholder engagement is critical to the success of any infrastructure project. It involves communication among technical experts, project managers, and local community leaders working together to ensure that the concerns and expectations of all stakeholders are considered. Multidisciplinary information sharing enables a more comprehensive understanding of the multi-disciplinary themes involved in project development, leading to better decision-making and more robust benefits for all stakeholders.
Key topics covered by Optinfra insight range from participatory design and stakeholder engagement techniques, to environmental impact assessment and the corresponding mitigation and management measures necessary for project approval and development.
We gather insight useful to project developers, public stakeholders, policymakers and regulators.
We divide the insight into three categories: projects, challenges, and possibilities.
- Challenges: We follow a range of leading think tanks and research agencies. We are currently following themes related to stakeholder engagement, consultation and opposition (‘not-in-my-backyard – NIMBY), the environmental basis for opposition to infrastructure projects, the challenge and effectiveness of the NEPA process, and legal challenges to project design, development, permitting and implementation.
- Projects: We track the Federal Register and department NEPA registries so you don’t have to. We focus on projects in rapidly evolving industries such as renewable energy (wind, solar, carbon storage), electric transmission, and project subject to regulatory and permitting changes.
- Opportunities: We search for demonstrated solutions across leading sites for journalism, research, and advocacy. Opportunities we’re tracking range from community benefits agreements required by the Inflation Reduction Act, to permitting reform, and software tools that facilitate participatory design, permitting, and monitoring.
There are tags built into the search feature to search for insight regarding individual sectors or regions.
Our sources range from the leading think-tanks, newspapers, journals, and industry publications, to community advocates and individual op-ed authors.
Check back regularly for updated content to reduce risk and increase the benefit of infrastructure project development.
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