Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to visit San Luis Obispo's REC Solar today

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• Letters to the Editor 1/15

  Letters to the Editor 1/15

  Extravagant rec center

  Your Local section front-page photo package on Cal Poly’s new $78 million recreation center gave me some food for thought. In fact, it gave me some indigestion.

  I read of the strain on our educational structure because of the greatest recession since the 1930s and of the need for frugality. And yet Cal Poly students seem to be able and willing to pay $65 per quarter for a deluxe rec center.

• Bill targets corporate accountability

  Bill targets corporate accountability

  A bill that would tie future corporate tax breaks to job creation and accountability has passed the Legislature and now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown, who has until Oct. 9 to sign or veto it.

  Both Central Coast legislators, Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian, R-San Luis Obispo, and state Sen. Sam Blakeslee, voted against the proposal.

  Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, has said he supports the notion of reviewing tax credits, “but that review needs to be comprehensive.”

• SunPower, which is building solar plant in SLO County, reports huge loss

  SunPower, which is building solar plant in SLO County, reports huge loss

  SunPower Corp., a San Jose-based solar power company that received a last-minute Department of Energy loan in September, announced today that it lost more than $370 million in its fiscal third quarter — more than double its second-quarter loss — and that its chief financial officer would resign.

  The company said it also would likely lose money in its fourth quarter and would embark on a “reorganization” that would lead to job cuts.

  SunPower plans to build a 250-megawatt solar plant called California Valley Solar Ranch in eastern San Luis Obispo County. It has started construction.

• 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.

• Closure of special Camp San Luis program would be a jolt to local economy

  Closure of special Camp San Luis program would be a jolt to local economy

  A state-run specialized training program for law enforcement, firefighters and emergency responders based at Camp San Luis Obispo is slated to be eliminated at year’s end, which could result in the loss of more than 20 jobs and cost San Luis Obispo County more than $5 million.

  The 40-year-old California Specialized Training Institute offers courses and certifications for first responders from throughout the state and beyond in emergency and disaster response and criminal justice.

  Gov. Jerry Brown plans to eliminate the program, overseen by the California Emergency Management Agency, in December as part of a slew of budget cuts being made to help balance the state’s struggling budget.