In a move to create jobs and help preserve California’s leadership in renewable energy, the state and the federal government have expanded a partnership to bring more solar, wind and other clean energy sources on line.
During a news conference at an Elk Grove solar farm Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signed a new agreement to streamline the permitting and planning process for hundreds of miles of transmission lines connecting to new energy sources.
The 2-year-old federal-state partnership has helped speed up the approval process for more than a dozen utility-scale solar-power projects in California and more than 130 other green energy projects.
“Putting these construction projects on a fast track will put people back to work and keep California a leader in renewable energy,” Brown said.
Prior to Friday’s news conference, Brown and Salazar toured the Elk Grove solar farm, which is being built and managed by Recurrent Energy of San Francisco.
Google Inc. and Wall Street private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Co. recently acquired a majority stake in the project.
Sandwiched between a dairy farm and strawberry patches, the
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