Energy Policy Update Energy and Environmental News July 13, 2009

______This newsletter is published by the Department of Commerce Energy Office and is provided free of charge to the public. It contains verbatim excerpts from international and domestic energy and environment-related publications reviewed by the Education and Community Outreach personnel. For inquiries, call (602) 771-1143 or toll free (800) 352-5499. Compiled and edited by Gloria Castro, Special Projects Coordinator. To register to receive this newsletter electronically, email Gloria Castro.

For additional program information, access: http://www.azcommerce.com/Energy/Energy+Policy+Update+- +%28Monthly+Publication%29.htm

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The Arizona Technology Council hosts the Partnering Conference – to bring Arizona’s technology community together to forge new partnerships – on Thursday, July 16 from 2:00 – 7:00 p.m. at the Scottsdale Hilton Resort and Villas (6333 North Scottsdale Road).

The Partnering Conference gives attendees access to an extraordinary concentration of emerging and established companies as well as the tools to create successful partnerships. Companies will present their partnering opportunities, and a high-profile panel of partnering experts will discuss how to expand and innovate through strategic alliances.

See what partnering with other companies can do for the growth of your business. Learn more at http://www.aztechcouncil.com/CWT/External/WCPages/WCEvents/EventDetail.aspx?E ventID=602.

Donald E. Cardon, Director

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FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE, ARIZONA-RELATED TITLES ARE HIGHLIGHTED IN GRAY

ARIZONA Arizona Solar Power Company Awarded Energy Saving Project [ABC15.com web site, July 8] Tucson, AZ - A Valley solar energy company selected to build cutting edge power plant project. U.S. energy supplier Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), headquartered in San Francisco, California, has commissioned the SOLON Corporation in Tucson to build a photovoltaic power plant in California. The pilot power plant project is part of a five-year program in which PG&E expects to develop 250 megawatts (MW) of solar photovoltaic power in California. ____

Avondale to Build 'Green' Sports Facility [Arizona Republic, July 8] Green-conscious Avondale has decided how its American Sports Center will be designed. The debate was over design and construction costs vs. long-term energy savings. The City Council recently selected the Phoenix office of SmithGroup to provide architectural and engineering design of the 83,000-square-foot, indoor recreational facility. The multipurpose sports center will host amateur sporting events. The council decided to spend an extra $66,500 to have the building design certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System. The project's design will cost an estimated $767,300. LEED certifies buildings as silver, gold or platinum. ____

Contractors Looking to do More Solar Work [Phoenix Business Journal, July 10] Electricians, steel workers and other contractors are looking to grow their business in the solar field as the state sees more interest in residential and commercial installations. To meet increasing demand for small-scale projects, some companies are training existing employees and pulling new talent from contractors, who for the past year have suffered along with the battered housing market. ____

EPA Announces Energy Star Homes Reach Nearly 17 Percent Market Share for 2008 [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, July 2] Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that nearly 17 percent of all single- family homes built nationally in 2008 earned EPA’s Energy Star label, up from 12 percent in 2007. Both home builders and home buyers are continuing to invest in high performing homes that save consumers money on their utility bills and help protect the environment. ____

Grant to Bring Renewable Energy to Navajo Homes [Associated Press, June 26] Albuquerque, N.M. - A company owned by American Indians has been awarded more than $500,000 to bring electricity from solar power to homes that now lack electricity. Sacred Power Inc. of Albuquerque was awarded the grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The company went into partnership with local chapter houses on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico and Arizona to secure USDA grants for modular hybrid solar photovoltaic stations to provide electricity. The USDA says such stations combine photovoltaic panels plus controls, battery storage and a backup small or propane generator to provide reliable electricity to homes. Systems are built at Sacred Power's Albuquerque plant ____

Housing Development Will Have Ground-Mounted Solar System [Phoenix Business Journal, July 10] Two Valley firms are planning what may be the first Arizona residential development to feature a ground-mounted solar system feeding power to all of the homes. Scottsdale engineering firm Triage Corp. and Cochise County Land LLC in Mesa are working on the 1,300-acre Ranch at Tombstone development between Tombstone and Bisbee, in the state’s southeastern reaches. A large solar garden will provide power to the homes and help run the community association’s facilities. ____

State Weighs Solar Proposal Seen as Key Test [Arizona Republic, July 6] A solar-power company's plan to put panels on two Scottsdale school roofs could end up changing the way solar energy is bought and sold in Arizona. If approved by state regulators, the plan could help expand the use of renewable energy by helping schools, governments and other big users get solar panels without the big up-front costs. If the plan is rejected, backers say, it could choke the state's burgeoning solar-power movement. ____

Stimulus Propels Weatherization Classes [Phoenix Business Journal, July 10] Although federal stimulus money is slow to trickle into Arizona, one Phoenix business is seeing activity from the weatherization funds. The Foundation for Senior Living’s Home Improvements program, which helps Valley residents upgrade the safety and functionality of their homes, offers weatherization training to contractors and technicians in Arizona through stimulus money allotted by the Arizona Department of Commerce.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY AND EFFICIENCY Incandescent Bulbs Return to the Cutting Edge [New York Times, July 5] Santa Rosa, CA - When Congress passed a new two years ago, obituaries were written for the incandescent light bulb. The law set tough efficiency standards, due to take effect in 2012, that no traditional incandescent bulb on the market could meet, and a century-old technology that helped create the modern world seemed to be doomed. But as it turns out, the obituaries were premature. Researchers across the country have been racing to breathe new life into Thomas Edison’s light bulb, a pursuit that accelerated with the new legislation. Amid that footrace, one company is already marketing limited quantities of incandescent bulbs that meet the 2012 standard, and researchers are promising a wave of innovative products in the next few years. ____

Uncle Sam to Pond Scum: I Want You! [Associated Press, July 3] Logan, UT - Somewhere among the beakers and the bubbling green-tinged tanks in this Utah State University lab, Jeff Muhs is searching for champion pond scum for Uncle Sam. If he and others like him around the country are successful, algae-based biofuel could one day power one of the world's biggest gas guzzlers: the U.S. military.

LEGISLATION AND REGULATION DOE Announces up to $10.5 Million in Solar Energy Education for Local Governments [U.S. Dept. of Energy, EERE web site, July 07] The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced a funding opportunity for up to $10.5 million to increase the ability of local governments to accelerate solar energy adoption and workforce development. Funding for the five-year awards is subject to annual appropriations. Through this new funding opportunity, DOE will provide local governments across the U.S. with useful, timely information on increasing solar energy use. ____

Groups Sue U.S. Over Energy-Transmission [New York Times, July 8] Fourteen conservation groups and a Colorado county sued the federal government yesterday over 6,000 miles of electricity transmission corridors on Western public lands, saying they link to coal-burning power plants and not renewable-energy generators. ____

How Congress Could Boost Solar [Forbes, July 7] With the real estate market in ruins, a full-blown recession laying waste to corporate spending and oil at less than half its 2008 peak, the solar industry that boomed from 2004 to 2007 has recently seen its fortunes reversed. So makers of photovoltaic power cells and their suppliers had reason to cheer when the House passed a global warming bill on June 26. The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 comes loaded with programs designed to boost the nation's use of renewable energy -- and as a result, say analysts at Deutsche Bank, solar orders could grow at close to 30% for the next decade. ____

Obama's Drive for Climate Change Bill Delayed [Reuters, July 9] Washington, D.C. - President Barack Obama's push for quick action by Congress on climate change legislation suffered a setback on Thursday when the U.S. Senate committee leading the drive delayed work on the bill until September. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer said her self-imposed deadline of early August for finishing writing a bill to combat global warming has been put off until after Congress returns from a recess that ends in early September. ____

U.S. Considers Curbs on Speculative Trading of Oil [New York Times, July 7] Washington, D.C. - Reacting to the violent swings in oil prices in recent months, federal regulators announced on Tuesday that they were considering new restrictions on “speculative” traders in markets for oil, natural gas and other energy products. The move is a big departure from the hands-off approach to market regulation of the last two decades. It also highlights a broader shift toward tougher government oversight under President Obama.

ENERGY/GENERAL Obama, G-8 Leaders Agree on Climate Target [Associated Press, July 8] L'aquila, Italy - President Barack Obama joined other leaders of the industrialized world Wednesday in backing new targets for battling global warming. But the wealthy nations were unable to persuade leaders of developing countries to commit to reductions of their own, and their cooperation is critical to avoiding the worst effects of climate change. White House officials confirmed that Obama agreed to language supporting a goal of keeping the world's average temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

WESTERN POWER Big Western Power Generator Plans Colorado [Denver Post, July 6] Denver, CO - A major regional power supplier has reached a deal to buy electricity from a new wind farm in Colorado. Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association formally signed a 20-year deal on Monday to buy power from a wind farm that Duke Energy will build near Burlington in eastern Colorado. The farm's 34 turbines will produce 51 megawatts, enough for 12,000 to 14,000 households. ____

California's Attorney General Says Feed-in Tariffs Legal in US [RenewableEnergyWorld.com web site, July 6] in a significant filing June 25, 2009 California's Attorney General (AG) argued that feed-in tariffs as proposed in California are not only permitted under federal law but that they should be used to encourage the rapid growth of renewable energy. The submission, part of hearings by the California's Public Utility Commission (CPUC) on whether the state can meet its Renewable Portfolio Standard, is potentially far-reaching because feed-in tariff opponents often raise the specter of federal-government intervention on the grounds that renewable tariffs violate federal law.

INDUSTRIES AND TECHNOLOGIES Pickens Scales Back Ambitious Wind Farm In a sign of the difficulties facing the development of wind energy, the legendary Texas oilman T. Boone-Pickens is suspending plans to build the world’s largest wind farm. Over the near term, Mr. Pickens instead plans to build three or four smaller wind farms, at a cost of some $2 billion. He said that he was unsure whether he would ever revive the giant wind project in the Texas Panhandle that has been on the drawing board for years. ____

Solar Companies Merge Technologies in Bid for Utility-Scale Production [New York Times, July 6] As the race to create clean, renewable power heats up, the solar industry is focusing on a technology in hopes of producing utility-scale energy. Concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) solar power -- which marries traditional solar photovoltaic technology to large-scale concentrated solar power plants -- could ramp up utility-scale solar production, advocates say, especially in niche markets. But as with all developing technologies, the effort faces significant hurdles.

GASOLINE AND DIESEL FUEL To view Arizona and U.S. Gasoline and Diesel fuel data plus other pertinent oil information click here. http://www.azcommerce.com/Energy/MotorFuel/

GRANTS TITLE: Recovery Act - Solid State Lighting Round IV Core Reference Number: DE-FOA-0000082 NAICS Code: Response Due Date: 8/10/2009 3:00:00 PM ET ____

TITLE: Recovery Act - Geologic Sequestration Training & Res. Reference Number: DE-FOA-0000032 NAICS Code: Response Due Date: 8/11/2009 8:00:00 PM ET ____

TITLE: Recovery Act - SSL Product Development Round VI Reference Number: DE-FOA-0000055 NAICS Code: Response Due Date: 8/17/2009 3:00:00 PM ET ____

TITLE: Recovery Act - Adv Energy Efficient Bldg Technology Reference Number: DE-FOA-0000115 NAICS Code: Response Due Date: 8/18/2009 8:00:00 PM ET ____

TITLE: Recovery Act - Hydroelectric Facility Modernization Reference Number: DE-FOA-0000120 NAICS Code: Response Due Date: 8/20/2009 11:59:00 PM ET ____

TITLE: Recovery Act - Building America EE Housing Reference Number: DE-FOA-0000099 NAICS Code: Response Due Date: 8/24/2009 3:00:00 PM ET ____

TITLE: Recovery Act - SSL US Manufacturing Round 1 Reference Number: DE-FOA-0000057 NAICS Code: Response Due Date: 8/24/2009 3:00:00 PM ET ____

TITLE: Recovery Act - Training Program Development... Reference Number: DE-FOA-0000118 NAICS Code: Response Due Date: 9/1/2009 8:00:00 PM ET ____

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Gloria O. Castro Arizona Department of Commerce Special Projects Coordinator, Energy Office Phone: 602-771-1143 Fax: 602-771-1203 3 Please consider the environment before printing this message.