Obama Renewable Energy Plan Targets LA, San Bernardino and Kern Counties

The White House has pushed for approval of an additional 10,000 megawatts of renewable energy production on public lands (BLM Bureau of Land Management). The Obama administration says the 25 utility-scale solar facilities, nine wind farms, and 11 geothermal plants it has approved on federal lands so far will provide enough juice to power 4.4 million homes. According to the National Geographic magazine, The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) so far has issued permits or is conducting environmental reviews for solar, wind, and geothermal projects covering about 310,000 acres (125,450 hectares) an area about the size of Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park. Many projects require that electric transmission lines be built over miles of open space to connect the remote renewable generating plants to the grid that serves population centers. There have been recent lawsuits against the plan to use so much public land and land that has delicate environmental ecosystems. Also, Federal and State Funds for these projects come with strict deadlines to break ground, a rush to buy land with an abundance of endangered plants and animals like E-Solar did in Antelope Valley. There are also regulations from County governments. This all created speculative investments, lawsuits, canceled projects, and other complications. The Solar Millennium project in Death Valley was abandoned by its bankrupt developer, Other projects have been cut back in size and some like Beautiful Earth in Del Sur in Antelope Valley have asked for extensions to complete their plan. Separately, birds have been found dead including three brown pelicans who may have thought the solar panels were a water source from several hundred feet. We have also reported Bright Source Energy’s issue with relocating desert tortoise found living on their Ivanpah Solar site. This site takes up 3500 acres. News reports indicate that the company paid up to $22 million to relocate the tortoise and they will have to spend $34 million in mitigation costs to offset their project. It is likely that projects approved just a few years ago would not have been approved today because of the environmental impact. Solar projects are the biggest targets for BLM land as they produce more megawatts than wind or geothermal and they use less land. The debate is not over and with all the legal challenges we expect more back and forth as these projects proceed or don’t. Some investors can benefit as speculative investment land and mitigation land will be targets for these environmental projects.

California’s Bullet Train Or Elon Musk’s Hyperloop?

How about “L.A. to S.F. in 30 minutes?”, which was the front page of the Los Angeles Times this week. At the same time Elon Mush of Tesla is proposing a Hyperloop, the conceptual superfast, solar-powered, tubular transit system. This news came after another L.A. Times piece about the potential Cal High Speed Rail experiencing delays again. The much delayed, and over budget, fast train is already in the works and beyond conception mode like the Hyperloop. The State of California has budgeted $68 Billion and years of planning on the CalHighSpeedRail plan. The LA Times reports that Musk deliberately hopes his Hyperloop will disrupt current plans for the railroad. “I don’t think we should do the high-speed rail thing,” Musk told reporters. “It’s basically going to be California’s Amtrak,” he said. He didn’t mean that as a compliment.(LA Times). The California High Speed Rail Authority Chairman Dan said Musk greatly underestimates the costs of the Hyperloop, not to mention how hard it is to secure funding for mass transit and convince neighbors and environmentalists that such a system won’t be harmful. “While we have a lot of respect for his inventiveness, I think we could tell him a few things about the realities of building in California,” Richard said. Hyperloop is just on the drawing board and has potentially many hurdles. It is speculated to only cost $6 Billion just 10% of the cost of the HighSpeed Rail? That too maybe farfetched as the Railroad plan started at $100 Billion for the entire project, and now it’s $68 Billion for a portion of the overall plan. Californians approved about $10 billion in bonds for the project back in 2008. The LA Times also reports the costs have multiplied since then, and the state hasn’t secured all of the additional funds needed. The train is also behind schedule because of delays in engineering the project and acquiring land along the route, and because of all the environmental and legal challenges. Although, the clock’s ticking on federal stimulus grants, which are set to expire in 2017. The Hyperloop certainly sounds better, it projected to be cheaper, solar powered and take less time to go from San Francisco to LA (30 minutes). You could easily link up with a rental car, taxi, Metro or Muni at either destination city. It also looks like you only need 4 to 6 people in order to fill a transport capsule, while the train would be 6 to 10 rail cars. There are engineering issues with the Hyperloop in that it would generation lots of heat, so a proposal to surround the tube with water but that could mean lots of water. Maybe a combination of the two plans could fit, but we don’t see the Hyperloop operating through the Central Valley or Antelope Valley. It could kill the train in Palmdale, Ca. The other option is the Hyperloop is not for California as they have made their bet with the train. It may fit better between Dallas and Houston, or New York and D. C., or even New York to L. A. so the liberals can zoom past those Red States as fast as possible to get to another liberal haven.

Hwy Corridor Progressing with Alternatives

News from the Victor Valley Daily Press indicates progress for the Hwy Corridor. There was a recent meeting in late July with The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority and Caltrans regarding the proposed route connecting the Victor and Antelope Valleys. They are proposing an eight-lane High Desert Corridor that will stretch over 60 miles between the two cities of Palmdale and Victorville. They have almost completed their environmental studies. They are still a good bit away from reality though. They project to begin construction by 2016, but they will need new funds to consummate that plan. One of the options is to have a public and private sector funding of the project. A number of alternatives have come into play. The original plan was to build a freeway between Hwy 15 in Victorville to Hwy 14 in Antelope Valley. Now they are conceiving to add a high speed rail and a toll road or both. Or do nothing at all. The main reason the Hwy Corridor was planned was based on future population growth, and commerce between the two major cities in the High Desert. Currently the access is via Hwy 138 which runs East of Palmdale along the southern parts of the valley to Phelan, Pinon Hills and then to Victorville. We cannot locate full detailed public maps of the exact route the Hwy Corridor would precede. It is roughly projected to run East to West from Hwy 15 through Adelanto south of El Mirage by Krey Field Airport to Palmdale Blvd. (Q8) in Eastern Antelope Valley and proceed south of Lake Los Angeles via Palmdale Blvd and then up to Ave P-8 and connect to Hwy 14. Most (over 95%) of this route is vacant unused land. 10th East to 90th East in Palmdale is undeveloped land and P-8 in not a paved road. Palmdale Blvd is paved from Hwy 14 Eastward to 240th street East, but is certainly not wide enough for a hwy. There are proposed alternative bypass routes along the path. There looks to be speculative investment opportunities along the route and if the project is approved then profits can be made. We will keep you posted here with the progress as an eight lane hwy along Antelope Valley’s east side will make significant changes in those areas.

How to Get a Land Loan, Buying Land Over Time on Terms

We have numerous inquiries from land investors who are interested in land banking, but they don’t have the funds currently to buy property. They can’t get a loan from banks, private lenders or even personal loans from families. Some sellers will finance the purchase of their property with an (OWC) owner will carry usually with interest over time. But most sellers want cash. Yet buying land now as an investment is ideal as prices are much lower than they were just a few years ago. We at Vacantlanddeals.com have helped Antelope Valley Investors buy land with terms over time. We have mainly sold land to cash buyers, but we have help finance our own land and other sellers land. If you are looking to buy a parcel primarily in the Antelope Valley, but can’t currently pay cash for the property, we can buy the parcel in advance for you and provide it to you. You will be the title holder on the property after escrow and then make monthly payments from two to five years, whichever works best. If we can help you finance and buy land for you for a custom home, or longer term investment let us know.

Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One Panels Dominates the Far West of the Valley

The enormous 230-megawatt (AC) solar power plant continues to rise from the desert floor. It rises about four feet above the ground for miles and looks like a winery field from a distance. Most of the frontage from Hwy 138 Ave D is covered by a fence. It actually doesn’t run up to the highway as it is set back a few hundred feet, and you can see the panels from the road as there is a covered fence to obscure your view. First Solar provides the engineering, procurement and construction services for Exelon. They have made great strides since this past March. They hired up to 350 employees mainly from Lancaster and Palmdale area the last several months according to news reports. It has also made a substantial impact on the local economy with daily hauling and lunches for the 350 plus employee and subcontractors and local vendors. They have had some obstacles to even begin. The local communities were against the project primarily. There was theft and property damage on the sites, and some rattle snake scares as well. News reports indicated they had issues the terrain which prevented them from meeting the conditional use permits (CUP) and loan guarantee deadline, but looks like they prevailed. This facility plans to produce 230 megawatts which should provide the energy needs of 75000 homes a year. Antelope Valley continues to be a sought after site as they get 300 days of sunshine a year. .A big advantage for First Solar is that the land was used before for farming, but not recently. This previous disturbed land eliminated some environmental concerns as there were no endangered plants or animals in the area. First Solar is also working on the Alpine Solar project further west toward Hwy 5. Alpine Solar is NRG’s 92 megawatt project also near Hwy 138. Nearby Local community leaders and News reports indicate more and more projects are being proposed in the area. The Antelope Valley may get their wish as the solar capital of the world as these project progress.

Construction To begin on Cal High Speed Rail With Lowest Priced Firm

SACRAMENTO -- State bullet train leaders recently approved the start of construction for California's $69 billion high-speed rail line, choosing the cheapest but least qualified firm to build the first leg. The California High-Speed Rail Authority asked its staff questions for more than an hour, but ultimately said it was confident in choosing a Southern California firm that promised to save the state at least $100 million. The board voted 6-0 to select a developer group led by Sylmar-based Tutor Perini to lay the physical groundwork for the first 29 miles of track between Madera and Fresno, with work starting as soon as late summer. CEO Jeff Morales is expected to sign the formal contract with the developer in coming weeks following final negotiations. Tutor Perini's $985 million bid beat the state's initial $1.2 billion estimate and the bids offered by four competing firms from around the world, which ranged from $1.09 billion to $1.54 billion. But state rail officials graded Tutor Perini's technical score as 68.5 out of 100, last among the finalists, whose quality scores ranged from 69 to 92.4. Still, all five firms passed met the authority's basic standards for quality. "The questions really boil down to, can the successful bidder do the job, and will they do it within the confines of the contract as contemplated by the authority?" said board member Jim Hartnett, of Redwood City. "The questions that I had were answered to my satisfaction." High-speed rail opponents raised questions at the meeting about possible cost overruns and the financial health of Tutor Perini. But the company's CEO, Ron Tutor, told reporters the criticisms of his firm are "all nonsense" fanned by the media "to create controversy that doesn't exist." "Like most of the uneducated opinions you hear where we can't rebut them, they're not based on anything factual or real," he said. "We've built more large civil works programs in this state than anyone else, virtually all of them successfully and without the cost overruns they all allude to." Before construction can begin, the state must still clear a few last-minute hurdles. Those include buying up properties along the rail route and winning clearance from the federal Surface Transportation Board, which is expected to rule on the project in the next two weeks.

Plans for High-speed Train From Vegas to Victorville Continues....

There have been plans developing since 2009 for a high-speed rail alternative to the often discussed magnetic levitation train to Southern California. The plan has been targeting using private funds, and will create up to 3,000 jobs during construction and prompt the displacement of some desert tortoises, representatives of the Federal Railroad Administration and an environmental consultant have proposed. Nevada Senator Harry Reid has also been a promoter of the train. It has been targeted to be called the DesertXpress, and would connect Las Vegas to Victorville not Anaheim, as the California Nevada Super Speed Train Commission proposed. The DesertXpress would operate at a speed of 150 mph which is half that of maglev (Anaheim Train). A one-way ticket would cost about $55. But DesertXpress Enterprises believes its project is more viable than the prior alternative, and DesertXpress could be funded through long-term debt and equity financing, as well as a public loan. DesertXpress will be electric and proposes a second phase to connect the train either diesel or electric-based to a nexus of public transit north of Los Angeles in Palmdale, Calif. The draft environmental impact statement has not initially included a study of the Victorville to Palmdale leg. Representatives of DesertXpress estimate that construction of the 180-mile project at $3.5 billion to $4 billion, whereas they predict the alternative 260-mile maglev line at $16 billion to $52 billion. The commission, however, recently pegged the maglev project at about $12 billion. DesertXpress would share existing transportation corridors, mostly Interstate 15. For example, an 85-mile stretch from Yermo, Calif. to Mountain Pass would be built in the freeway median and alongside it.. A span of the train could be built along the Union Pacific Railroad into the Las Vegas area, north of Jean. And a section of I-15 in the southern Las Vegas Valley could be built over the median. A potential Las Vegas station could be near I-15 and Flamingo Road consultants have indicated. A maintenance facility could be built near I-15 and Wigwam or I-15 and Robindale Road. A train from Long Beach to Vegas was used before in 1955 and taken out of service by 1966. It was a standard train of its time, but a direct express. Is there enough potential traffic between Victorville and Las Vegas? Or will the bulk be gamblers and resort seekers. It will certainly create a lot of activity and speculative land activity if this project truly takes off. Most of this land east of San Bernardino is open space, and habitat for endangered species.