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Utility Exec Foresees 100% Solar Future for Arizona
October 18, 2007
All of these price increases are making solar
energy more attractive. Some people in Arizona now believe the state
could meet all of its energy needs with solar energy sooner rather
than later.
Tom Hansen, Tucson Electric Power Company vice
president of environmental services, conservation and renewable
energy told 500 attendees of the Alternative Energy Expo 2007 in
Tucson on September 15 that the state could obtain 100% of its
electricity from solar energy by the end of the century. Hansen said
that Arizona could obtain 50% of its electricity from solar energy
as soon as 2050.
According to the October 5 edition of SNL Energy
Renewable Energy Week, Arizona Corporation Commissioner Kristin
Mayes has written a letter to the company asking it to formally
present a plan to move this idea forward. Mayes was in the audience
at the Expo when she heard Hansen's remarks.
There have been a number of press reports about
Tucson Electric participating with other southwest utilities in a
central-station solar power plant, but so far no announcement. We'll
stay tuned.
In Colorado, CRES has set a target for obtaining
50% of all energy used in Colorado from renewable energy resources
in 2050.
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