SolarRisk Tracker / Explore / CA / Imperial

Imperial County, CA — Solar Development Risk Assessment

Local solar ordinance barriers, board sentiment, and utility policies that affect development timelines and risk.

18.5
Risk Grade
Excellent
Top-tier utility-scale solar county in the United States; Sonoran Desert location with some of the highest solar irradiance in North America (DNI >7.5 kWh/m2/day); DRECP DFA designation streamlines permitting and eliminates most county-level friction for desert parcels; IID (Imperial Irrigation District) utility proactively builds transmission infrastructure; very low population density (~43/sq mi); massive existing and approved pipeline (>2,000 MW); excellent land-solar-grid alignment; benchmark county for US utility-scale solar development
Assessment Snapshot
Population
180216
State Rank
#1
Compliance
15%
Trajectory
18

Moratorium Status

✓ No Active Moratorium
No specific moratorium information available.

Ordinance & Regulations

Setback Requirements
150 ft from occupied residences; 50 ft from property lines; BLM right-of-way setbacks apply on federal land
Zoning Mechanism
DRECP DFA: streamlined permitting on designated federal/state lands bypasses most county review; County CUP required for private land projects; CEQA streamlined via DRECP programmatic EIS/EIR
Acreage Caps
None — no acreage cap in DFA zones
Spacing Rules
None specified
Size Restrictions
No size restrictions in DFAs; utility-scale explicitly encouraged

Board Sentiment & Political Risk

Sentiment Analysis
Strongly supportive — county supervisors and economic development office actively recruit solar; IID proactively facilitates interconnection; low-income rural border community sees solar as economic development driver
Basis for Assessment
Imperial County Board of Supervisors votes; IID interconnection records; BLM ROW approvals; CA Energy Commission siting records; public statements by supervisors
Political Risk Factors
Improving — Strongly Favorable
Board Members
James Megargee | D | 2026; Luis Plancarte | D | 2028; Andrew Miner | R | 2026; Ryan Kelley | R | 2028; Jesus Escobar | D | 2026

Grid, Utilities & State Context

Grid Operator
IID (Imperial Irrigation District) — separate balancing authority; CAISO for northern Imperial County portions
Utilities
Imperial Irrigation District (IID), None (IID serves full county)
State Permitting Process
County zoning + CEQA review required; CEC siting jurisdiction for projects >50 MW on state/federal land; Coastal Commission review for coastal zone; DRECP DFAs streamline desert county permitting
State Incentives
Federal ITC eligible; California Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) for storage; CA Renewables Portfolio Standard procurement; CPUC approved procurement programs

Development Activity

Active/Completed Projects
Imperial Valley Solar (250 MW, First Solar/Sempra, 2011); Blythe Solar Power Project (phases, NextEra); Desert Harvest Solar (150 MW, 2014); Sonoran Solar Energy Project (150 MW, 2013); Solar Star Imperial (~170 MW, 2015); multiple additional IID-connected utility-scale projects totaling >2,000 MW installed or approved
Denied/Withdrawn Projects
None confirmed — DFA designation has prevented successful denials

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Last verified: April 2026 (web research) | SolarRisk Tracker | Data sources: Government records, utility filings, public meeting minutes