The US and California officials have shrunk area for renewable energy plants in California desert. The officials announced Tuesday that they have more than halved the amount of California desert land, which allows local governments to decide how they want to handle large-scale solar, wind and geothermal projects on private land.

The Renewable Energy Action Team agencies, which include the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and California Energy Commission, said that regulators will initially concentrate on about 10 million acres of federal land. Their initial plan, which was revealed in September, designated 22.5 million acres across seven counties.

The remaining 12.5 million acres is privately owned and the land has been put aside for the moment. Local governments will likely approve projects on private property.

The authors of the plan have estimated that 470,000 acres would be needed for projects to produce 20,000 megawatts by 2040.

According to Andy Horne, Imperial County's deputy executive and point man on renewable energy plants, there has been a concern in the minds of some residents that solar, wind and geothermal plants will replace farming jobs in the agricultural region of 175,000 people. These farming jobs consistently register one of the nation's highest unemployment rates.

Horne's county had 2.8 million acres designated for potential development under the initial plan. Their tone changed when Imperial reiterated its concerns again about two weeks. Horne mentioned that that the plan's authors initially rejected Imperial's concerns citing that they were too far along. They will think upon changes once Imperial decided on its priorities.

The Nature Conservancy's California land program has analyzed environmental impacts extensively. Laura Crane, associate director of the organization, said, "Given the size and complexity, it's understandable why the agencies are breaking it apart in pieces they can manage. If the counties aren't happy and they clearly weren't, it's really important that it be slowed down. If the counties don't agree, it can't be implemented".