Solar Energy Gets Boost From Richardson

Feb 27 - Albuquerque Journal

As one of the country's sunniest states, New Mexico should be a leader in the development of solar energy. If Gov. Bill Richardson gets his way, the next big push could be right around the corner.

Solar energy research has been a constant at Albuquerque's Sandia National Laboratories for 30 years, but real-life applications have been slow to materialize. The biggest obstacle has been cost. While wind energy is finally competitive with coal-generated electricity at about 5 cents per kilowatt-hour, solar energy costs between 8 and 11 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Although that's dramatically cheaper than the 25 cents per kilowatt-hour rate from some of the first solar plants built in the 1980s, utilities are understandably reluctant to add the expensive energy to the mix.

That's where the state comes in. New Mexico regulators have established a strong incentive for utilities to add solar energy to the grid. Every kilowatt-hour of solar power now counts as 3 kilowatt-hours toward the 10 percent renewable energy mandate that large utilities must meet by 2011. The most generous alternative energy incentive on the books, that should help spur interest in the technology.

Richardson would up the ante by allocating $3 million in seed money for one or more solar energy plants in New Mexico. Substantial private investment would be necessary to make the project viable.

This has the potential to further diversify New Mexico's energy mix and strengthen the state's already robust energy exports. New jobs and economic development would be one benefit. Moving toward an energy source that is virtually free of pollution would be another.

New Mexico should be on the front end of this emerging technology. This new initiative makes the forecast for that possibility, well, sunny.