The construction uses CdTe thin film panels from the U.S. firm First Solar, and the majority of the output is being sold to Kaiser Permanente and Southern California Edison under 20-year power purchase agreements.

The current project configuration follows extensive efforts, which are detailed in the next section, to develop the site for other renewable energy facilities.

These efforts were initiated in earnest around 2010, and concluded in June 2012 when NextEra Energy Resources acquired the resulting assets.

[7] On August 24, 2015, the Interior Department publicly announced that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had also approved the modification.

[10] In September 2017 the Modesto Irrigation District agreed to purchase 2.5 million megawatt-hours of electricity over 20 years.

[13] Blythe Solar was initially to be a 1000 MW, $6 billion parabolic trough solar thermal CSP plant, comprising four 242 MW units, located on 7,025 acres (2,843 ha) of Bureau of Land Management land, about 8 miles (13 km) west of the city of Blythe.