Viewpoint: Building for our energy needs

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• Viewpoint: Plenty of places for solar plants

  Viewpoint: Plenty of places for solar plants

  The Tribune lobbed a “solar-powered brickbat” at North County Watch after we signed a settlement agreement requiring First Solar to shut down its Carrizo Plain solar plant and restore the industrialized site when its permits expire some three decades hence.

  The Tribune’s attempt to set up an adversarial straw man — “OK, so let’s shut down solar and drill more oil wells, shall we?” — is a superficial, off-point sound bite that fails to acknowledge the issues or the collaborative nature of settlement agreements.

  The point: There are plenty of good places to build solar power plants. The Carrizo, home to the highest number of endangered and threatened species in California, was the last place that should have been selected for one, let alone two. In this context, the tired “NIMBYism” criticism is shameful and absurd. The presence of species fully protected by the National Endangered Species Act (NEPA) and the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) and numerous other laws make this a statewide and national

• Subsidies for renewable energy plans are plentiful

  Subsidies for renewable energy plans are plentiful

  WASHINGTON — In the California Valley, NRG Energy is building an engineering marvel: a compound of nearly a million solar panels that will produce enough electricity to power about 100,000 homes.

  The project is also a marvel in another, less obvious way: Taxpayers and ratepayers are providing subsidies worth almost as much as the entire $1.6 billion cost of the project. Similar subsidy packages have been given to 15 other solar- and wind-power electric plants since 2009.

  The government support — which includes loan guarantees, cash grants and contracts that require electric customers to pay higher rates — largely eliminated the risk to the private investors and almost guaranteed them large profits for years to come. The beneficiaries include financial firms like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, conglomerates like General Electric, utilities like Exelon and NRG — even Google.

• Letters to the Editor: On Solar Energy

  Letters to the Editor: On Solar Energy

  Cost is higher

  Your editorial of Oct. 23 states: “Solar energy is an economic boon. PG&E has … agreed to buy the energy produced in California Valley.” PG&E has agreed to buy the energy produced because the state has mandated electric utilities to get one-third of their power from non-fossil fuel sources by 2020. The cost to PG&E and ultimately consumers is not mentioned.

  The cost per kilowatt-hour for electricity as follows: Natural gas, 6.4 cents; photovoltaic 15 cents. Ultimately, the electricity generated by the solar plant must be paid for by the consumers. Many businesses, especially those that require large amounts of electricity, will move out of the state or will not move in. A net loss of jobs. Those businesses cannot produce their product here and sell it in competition with businesses where electricity is less expensive. This will ultimately mean jobs lost in the state with no reduction in man-produced CO2.

• Breaking ground in California Valley: Sun rises on new solar farm

  Breaking ground in California Valley: Sun rises on new solar farm

  A forest of thousands of sturdy metal posts is sprouting in the wide open spaces of California Valley.

  The posts will eventually support 720,000 photovoltaic panels that will be part of the California Valley Solar Ranch, one of the world’s largest facilities to turn sunlight into electricity.

  Several hundred people gathered at the project site near the Kern County line in eastern San Luis Obispo County on Thursday to celebrate the beginning of construction. No mention was made of financial losses recently experienced by parent company SunPower of San Jose, which have caused the resignation of three top executives.

• California hits wind energy milestone: About 5 percent of power from wind

  California hits wind energy milestone: About 5 percent of power from wind

  California now gets about 5 percent of its electricity from wind power, according to data released Tuesday by the California Wind Energy Association.