Owner/Client
Urban Grid Solar Projects, LLC
Location
Confidential
CEC Services
- Aquatic & Terrestrial Habitat Surveys
- Threatened & Endangered Species Surveys/Wildlife Surveys
Owner Objective
Urban Grid Solar Projects (Urban Grid) is a leading renewable energy developer of reliable, utility-scale solar and storage solutions to help meet America’s unprecedented energy demand. The company delivers projects that strengthen local economies through community partnerships and responsible land stewardship. In support of this mission, Urban Grid proposed the development of three utility-scale solar projects in Arkansas and Virginia, collectively covering more than 6,000 acres and generating up to 625 megawatts of energy. CEC was contracted to ensure compliance with federal and state environment regulations, including U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) guidelines, which indicated that a comprehensive bat survey covering the Indiana bat, northern long-eared bat, and tricolored bat would be required.
CEC Approach
Considering that there were multiple target species for these surveys, including the tricolored bat, CEC determined that combined mist-net and acoustic surveys would be required to meet USFWS guidelines. Through conversations with Urban Grid, CEC came up with a satisfactory netting to acoustics ratio that would satisfy both Urban Grid and USFWS while providing high-quality scientific data. In total, CEC completed 111 net-nights of mist-net survey effort, and 55 nights of acoustic surveys across the three project areas. In addition to the mist-net and acoustic surveys, CEC also conducted an in-depth habitat assessment of each project area. These assessments characterized each area by dominant tree species, average age and size (i.e., diameter at breast height), canopy cover, and presence of potential roost trees and watering areas.
