After winning approval last year for what was likely the most bitterly contested industrial-scale solar development in Morongo Basin history, energy behemoth NextEra has pulled the plug on their plan at the site of the former Joshua Tree airport. Reporter Mike Lipsitz shines some light on the situation…
NextEra pushed into Morongo Basin in 2014 with the goal of converting the 110-acre Roy Williams airport site in Joshua Tree into a utility-scale solar power plant. The plan immediately drew fire from preservationists intent on saving the long-closed airport for posterity; from neighbors and conservationists who objected to the dust, blight, and downward drag on property values the project would bring; and from the water district which found itself obliged to make water available while struggling to comply with mandatory state water restrictions. The company, which boasts annual revenue in excess of $16 billion, used its power and influence to beat the opposition, finally winning on appeal to County Supervisors in August 2016. NextEra wasted no time fencing off the site and demolishing the old airport structures, only to stop all work within days of November’s presidential election. But it wasn’t until the end of February that NextEra confirmed to the water district that, at least for now, the project is dead.
PLUG PULLED ON CONTROVERSIAL JOSHUA TREE COMMERCIAL SOLAR PROJECT
