State & Stakeholder Newsletter, August 25, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 Volume #9, Issue #17 Editor: Jane Pulaski The IREC State & Stakeholder Newsletter is a foremost resource for current information on green workforce training, credentialing programs, state activities and best practices on renewable energy and energy efficiency. This free newsletter is distributed semi-monthly to email subscribers and published on IREC's website. If…
Volume #9, Issue #17
Editor: Jane Pulaski
The IREC State & Stakeholder Newsletter is a foremost resource for current information on green workforce training, credentialing programs, state activities and best practices on renewable energy and energy efficiency. This free newsletter is distributed semi-monthly to email subscribers and published on IREC's website. If you have comments or if you would like to submit a news item, email Jane Pulaski. To subscribe to this newsletter, click here and follow the instructions.
If you want the best news about what's going on in the states and cities, read the State & Stakeholder Newsletter (August 25, 2010)
From the editor:
Solar Salt Lake: large PV installations in the queue
Salt Lake City: home of the 2002 Winter Olympics, Rowland-Hall St. Mark's School, the U of U, a highly evolved food culture, and if Utah Clean Energy (UCE) has anything to do with it, Utah will be home to some significant solar installations.
On a gorgeous August morning, I met Sara Baldwin, Senior Policy and Regulatory Associate for UCE, for coffee and to find out how solar is faring in a state of 2.2 million, most of who live along the Wasatch Front (north) and the St. George area (south). Sara manages the Solar Salt Lake Partnership project as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar America Cities Initiative. Its ambitious goals, like developing a fully-scoped city and county-level implementation plan for at least 10MW of new solar PV installations in all sectors by 2015 (that's an additional 10K solar PV systems), will be a challenge; Utah is a state where electricity costs are among the lowest in the country.
A combination of enthusiastic, committed stakeholders, well-directed ARRA funds, and favorable regulatory results is making for a radiant solar climate in Salt Lake City. A community solar project in St. George, SunSmart, will grow to 150kW (up from 100kW), ultimately topping out at 250kW. Though it's run into a few challenges in getting buy-in from the local community, Baldwin is focused on keeping the momentum for this pointed in the right direction. And just next month, in September, Salt Lake County will hold a press conference to announce the state's largest solar project — it is expected to be at least 1 MW, if not higher; this project will be located on the Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City. All this in a state with a total population of slightly more than 2 million. Take a minute and read the full article.
Checked your calendar lately? It's almost September, and that means about six weeks until IREC's Annual Meeting on Monday, October 11 in Los Angeles. The Preliminary Agenda is out, and (as usual), chock full of talent and timely issues. Hotel rooms are going fast. Won't you join us?
P.S. Exhibition opportunities are now available for the 4th Clean Energy Workforce Education Conference, March 9-11, 2011 in Saratoga Springs, NY. Exhibition spaces are limited; it's first come, first serve.
Read the State & Stakeholder Newsletter, August 25, 2010