Al, I forgot that I was a member of that site that I gave a link to, as I get logged in automatically. here's the whole article....
An independent energy company gained backing Friday for what it believes is the biggest solar project under development in the country -- a 50-megawatt solar power project in the Eldorado Valley near Boulder City.
Duke Solar Energy, a Raleigh, N.C., company, is proposing to build the plant to provide solar energy to Nevada Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Power Co.
PowerLight Corp., an unsuccessful bidder from Berkley, Calif., had challenged the Duke project, pointing to Duke's planned electricity price of 16 to 17 cents a kilowatt hour.
By comparison, the electric utilities want the Public Utilities Commission to approve contracts to buy geothermal power, which comes from hot underground water, for 4.3 to 5.2 cents a kilowatt hour. The utilities are asking the PUC to ratify contracts for wind power at 3 to 4 cents a kilowatt hour.
Earlier this week, however, PowerLight withdrew its opposition, and the remaining parties reached an agreement that calls for PUC approval of the Duke project, which would be operational in 2005.
Gary Wayne, director of strategic projects for PowerLight, wrote a letter, saying the company didn't want to oppose Duke's project. A procedural order in the case prevented them from bringing up other issues, he stated, so PowerLight decided to withdraw.
Gary Bailey, Southwest managing partner for Duke Solar, formerly affiliated with Duke Energy Corp., defended the company's proposal, pointing out it locks in the price for 20 years.
The Duke Solar project is also most efficient at generating electricity on summer afternoons when air conditioning causes demand and prices for power to peak, he said.
"That's when we're the best," he said.
The Duke Solar contracts will exceed Nevada Power's and Sierra Pacific Power's cost for conventional power by $121 million over the 20 years of the contract, according to the PUC staff and the utilities. The prices with Duke Solar were the lowest of the solar power proposals.
The commission staff recommended the three-member commission approve the contract because state law requires the utilities to use some solar power. The PUC is expected to give formal approval later.
Despite the agreement, controversy lingers over the merits of central solar stations, such as the one Duke plans in the Eldorado Valley, vs. distributed generation solar power as PowerLight wanted to offer.
PowerLight installs photovoltaic panels at the site of end users, such as office buildings. That eliminates the need to send power from the solar energy site over power lines.
PowerLight also argued it was unable to make a firm bid for the project, because the Public Utilities Commission didn't complete rules on a renewable energy credit trading system prior to the deadline for bids in November 2001.
Under Nevada law, utilities and power plant operators are allowed to sell the credits to others who can use them to meet renewable portfolio standards.
Now that those credits are in place, the utilities agreed to separately consider distributed generation solar projects, like those that PowerLight develops, later this year.
To see more of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to lvrj.com.
(c) 2003, Las Vegas Review-Journal. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. DUK, SRP,
Here's a link to the site that gave a link to the article. I think that some of the content is free. I didn't pay to sign up. I get a daily email newsletter from them that has a lot of useful, up to date information on energy.
energycentral.com
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