GO-Biz Clean Energy Permitting Initiative
Improved permitting processes is one element that can help reduce barriers to deployment of renewable projects. In late 2024, GO-Biz kicked off the clean energy permitting initiative to assess challenges and barriers faced by local jurisdictions for permitting large scale energy projects and develop a toolkit of resources for process improvements. The final report and toolkit will include best practices and other resources that will help to increase transparency and alignment of local jurisdiction permitting processes to reduce barriers for the deployment of energy projects.
Public Feedback for the Playbook and Toolkit
GO-Biz looks forward to hearing your comments on the resources that will be included in the final Clean Energy Permitting Playbook and Toolkit. The team spent several months surveying, interviewing, and conducting focus groups to understand challenges and pain points of the local permitting process for large-scale clean energy projects as well as opportunities for improvement. Based on input and feedback from stakeholders, we have developed the following resources to assist with permitting processes.
Aligning Community Interests with Clean Energy Project Development
Key content of this guide includes benefits of clean energy projects, types of negotiated community benefits, and considerations for local permitting authorities when working to align community interest with project development. For information on GO-Biz’s webinar walking through this specific resource, please see the Webinar and Events section below.
- Click here to see the Draft Guide to Aligning Community Interest with Clean Energy Project Development
- Please email your comments to energyunit@gobiz.ca.gov. Include your name, organization, and email in your response.
- Comments for this guide are due by October 10th, 2025.
A Guide to Developing Clean Energy Ordinances
Key information and recommendations of this guide include setbacks, design standards, fire safety, decommissioning, model ordinance language, and more. For information on GO-Biz’s webinar walking through this specific resource, please see the Webinar and Events section below.
- The draft Guide to Developing Clean Energy Ordinances and feedback form will be posted to this page mid-September.
Draft Clean Energy Permitting Playbook and Toolkit
This resource is the full draft of the Playbook and Toolkit and is one of the key final products of the GO-Biz Clean Energy Permitting Initiative. For more information on GO-Biz’s webinar walking through the draft of the Playbook and Toolkit in entirety, please see the Webinar and Events section below.
- The draft Clean Energy Permitting Playbook and Toolkit and the feedback form will be posted to this page in early October.
For further questions on submitting feedback or about the initiative in general, please reach out to energyunit@gobiz.ca.gov.
Initiative Timeline
Webinars and Events
GO-Biz is conducting a series of webinars and workshops as part of the stakeholder outreach for the permitting initiative. Sign up for updates on the permitting initiative and upcoming events using the button at the bottom of this page to stay up to date. Information and materials on the webinar series is as follows:
Webinar 1: Battery Energy Storage System Safety and Best Practices
A webinar was held on March 26, 2025, to bring together state and local permitting authorities as well as industry experts to discuss challenges, lessons learned, and best practices in permitting battery energy storage systems (BESS) projects. The webinar also touched on the upcoming work within the Clean Energy Permitting Initiative.
March 2025 Webinar Recording
Presentation Slides
Speaker Bios
Webinar 2: GO-Biz Clean Energy Permitting Initiative Overview
As part of our Clean Energy Permitting Initiative, this webinar in June 2025 walked through early developments of a permitting guidebook and toolkit to support local authorities. This was the first in a series of five webinars, where we are highlighting key topics from the toolkit and guidebook such as solar, wind, and BESS permitting.
June 25 Webinar Recording
Presentation Slides
Webinar 3: Aligning Community Interests with Clean Energy Project Development
This webinar will be held on September 10th, 2025, from 12:00pm – 1:30pm and will showcase the Playbook’s guide for navigating community benefits.
Webinar 4: Supporting Land Use Permitting Processes: A Guide to Developing Clean Energy Ordinances
This webinar will be held on September 17th, 2025, from 12:00pm – 1:30pm and will showcase a guide to developing clean energy ordinances.
Webinar 5: Draft Clean Energy Permitting Playbook and Toolkit – Walkthrough
This webinar will be held on October 15th, 2025, from 12:00pm – 1:30pm and will walkthrough the full draft of the Clean Energy Permitting Playbook and Toolkit in its entirety for the first time.
