The CEC, which will take final decisions on several other large solar thermal plants in the coming weeks, has been racing to review the projects.
The permitting process has been lengthy - Beacon has been under review since March 2008 - and often contentious, encompassing issues of desert land use, protection of threatened and endangered species, and water use.
"Today’s action begins the journey of increasing clean renewable energy in California,” CEC Chairman Karen Douglas says in a statement.
According
