Motorola site brings in $18.5 million

The prime 152-acre Motorola site on Price Road in Chandler has sold for $18.5 million in cash and is poised to provide the area with worldwide recognition, city officials say.

There is interest from renewable-energy companies, including solar, as well as firms in semiconductors and nanotechnology. The last Motorola employees on the site moved out in September.

“It could be a true employment hub for Chandler,” said Chris Mackay, the city’s director of economic development.

She envisions what she described as a world-class business park to integrate business and technology.

“The Motorola campus is one of the identified innovation zones for Chandler, and it allows us the opportunity to get away from only large-campus users,” she said. “We can put smaller, knowledge-related users there.”

Karl James is managing director of the company that bought the site, Austin-based Capital Commercial Investments. He said there is great interest from national and international companies.

“We certainly see (the site) as a great opportunity for the state of Arizona,” James said.

“We think there certainly will be some good things to come from it.”

The site could be leased to one large user, he said, but he didn’t preclude several smaller tenants.

“As far as what direction, we are still exploring all the options,” he said. “It’s a very open question at this point. We don’t have any vision for it now other than to say we want to look at all of our options.”

The zoning along the Price Road Corridor requires at least 15 acres for any one company.

The campus, between Germann and Queen Creek roads, contains a two-story, 512,000-square-foot building that had been used for offices and research.

Goodyear will house a new factory for he world’s second-largest producer of solar panels, Chinese solar-panel maker Suntech Power Holdings Co., which development officials said paves the way for more factories and raises hope for a more diversified Arizona job market.

At least 54 renewable-energy companies are looking at the region for possible factory sites, said Barry Broome, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, which helped lure Suntech to the state.

He said he is hopeful Arizona sees at least three more factory announcements before April and at least six for the year, which would help the state recover from the current recession and housing crisis.

“We need to be aggressive about this, you have to execute,” Broome said, citing state tax incentives created last year that helped attract Suntech and other companies to Arizona.

Suntech’s decision to open Goodyear plant will bring 75 immediate jobs

Among the attractions that brought Suntech to Arizona were tax breaks passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor last year. Those incentives offer renewable-energy equipment factories income-tax credits and lower property taxes based on how much they invest in their factories and what they pay their workers.

Suntech could get $1 million to $1.5 million in state tax breaks based on its plans, Broome said, although the investment is not large enough to trigger reduced property taxes, and Goodyear will provide Suntech with a $500,000 credit for job training.

Suntech also could get a $2.1 million federal tax credit from its investment in the Arizona facility. Five other companies could get those federal tax credits for new or expanded factories in Arizona, according to a recent report from the Department of Energy.

Some of the new companies scoping out factory sites are suppliers for Suntech and Tower Automotive, a Michigan company that recently announced plans for a $50 million solar-component factory in the area, Broome said.

“These are the elite companies in the industry,” he added. “This gives real legitimacy to Arizona’s position in the solar marketplace.”

Suntech will spend $10 million to $15 million setting up an assembly factory for solar panels in an existing building in Goodyear, Goodyear Crossing, 3801 S. Cotton Lane, that it will lease, officials said.

The factory initially will employ 75 people and turn out enough solar panels a year to power about 7,500 houses at once. Officials want to expand the plant over time to four times that capacity, employing 250 people.

“Jobs, we all love the sound of that song,” Gov. Jan Brewer said when announcing the factory’s location at a forum sponsored by AZ4Solar in Phoenix.

The Arizona Suntech factory should be in production by September, allowing the company to serve the Southwest with panels made in the U.S., said Steven Chan, chief strategy officer.

“It has always been a trend to have manufacturing go east to Asia from the U.S.,” Chan said. “There is demand for products made in Arizona, made in the U.S.”

Chan said Suntech will strive to match the cost efficiencies of its factories in China because while customers want a domestically produced product, price is more important to U.S. consumers.

“U.S. customers are not willing to pay more for something made in the U.S.,” he said.

The new factory will be a small part of the company’s operations and not process silicon wafers into silicon solar cells, as Suntech does in China. Workers will assemble the premade cells with glass and frames into the panels used on roofs and in large fields for power plants.

In 2008, Suntech’s existing factories produced 498 megawatts of solar panels, most of which were sold to Europe.

The Arizona facility will have an initial capacity of 30 megawatts, with 120 megawatts of capacity if and when it expands.

One megawatt of power capacity is enough to supply about 250 homes at once.

Suntech spent more than two years on a nationwide site search, surveying more than 28 properties in Greater Phoenix, Chan said.

Jan. 28, 2010 The Arizona Republic

Arizona’s first wind farm creating power for Valley

Federal dignitaries tout cleaner energy, creation of green jobs

Northern Arizona dedicated the state’s first wind farm, which sends power to Salt River Project customers in the Valley when the wind blows on the turbines between Holbrook and Snowflake.

The Dry Lake Wind Power Project has 30 wind turbines standing more than 400 feet tall, catching every breeze of 7 mph or greater and turning it into pollution-free electricity.

The project employed about 200 construction workers in the past year and will have about 10 full-time workers.

In a steady wind, the turbines can generate enough power for more than 15,000 homes.

Dry Lake will offset some of the power SRP gets from natural-gas-burning power plants.

An analysis from SRP shows that, while the Dry Lake region is windy and the plant will provide thousands of megawatt hours to the utility each year

“The message this plant sends to Arizonans is as important as the power it generates,” SRP General Manager Richard Silverman said.

“Today isn’t only about a power plant, it’s about a more sustainable future for our customers and all of Arizona.”

Bob Abbey, director of the Bureau of Land Management, said the agency supports more wind projects.

“As the steward of more land than any other federal agency, the BLM is proud to support the development of this clean-energy source, one that will help reduce our dependency on foreign oil in uncertain times,” he said.

The Dry Lake farm sits on private, state and BLM land.

Although 15 miles of roads were cut across the landscape to connect the towers, cattle still graze under the turbines, and few people live within sight of the towers.

The BLM will earn about $87,255 a year from the project. The state has a deal tied to the energy generated by the turbines on its land that could earn $4 million during the 50-year arrangement.

With such lucrative deals possible, landowners across the region are hoping to attract many more turbines to the high desert.

Iberdrola Renewables, a Spanish company with U.S. headquarters in Oregon, built the $100 million project and plans 209 more turbines at the site, which will stretch 15 miles across Navajo County.

And right next door, SkyMall founder Robert Worsley, who opened a biomass power plant nearby, has proposed building hundreds more wind turbines and enough solar generators to match the maximum power output of Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station.

Other wind farms have been proposed from the Navajo Reservation and near Flagstaff in the north, to Bisbee in southern Arizona, and to Kingman on the state’s western line.

First, some interesting facts:

In the United States, buildings account for:

72 percent of electricity consumption.

39 percent of energy use.

40 percent of raw materials use.

30 percent of waste output.

14 percent of potable water consumption.

Source: U.S. Green Building Council

A Quick glossary of green terms

Green building - A building that conforms to environmentally sound principles of construction practices, resource use and operations.

LEED - The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.

Smart growth - Urban-development strategies to reduce sprawl that are fiscally, environmentally and socially responsible.

Triple-bottom line -Measuring the economic, social and environmental performance of a project. This method of assessment aims for synergy among these three aspects rather than compromise, or “trade-offs,” among them.

Source: U.S. Green Building Council

So, how is the greater Phoenix area doing their part?

Whether it’s a new high-rise in downtown Phoenix, or new solar companies moving one to Chandler and another to Goodyear, green architecture is taking root here.

Intel commits to solar systems in Chandler

Intel Corp. said it will build two rooftop solar-power systems at its Chandler facilities that will tie as the fifth largest in Salt River Project territory as part of a plan to add solar panels to eight of its buildings in the Southwest.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company also is increasing its commitment to purchase renewable-energy credits, and ranks as the largest purchaser of those credits in the country, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The systems should be complete in the next seven months.

Jan. 26, 2010 The Arizona Republic

Al Gore speaks at Greenbuild International Conference in Phoenix

About 25,000 green-building enthusiasts from 90 countries came to explore these and other sustainable designs in Arizona as part of the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo held at the Phoenix Convention Center at the end of the year.

Former Vice President Al Gore answered some questions when he spoke with editorial writer Kathleen Ingley by phone in advance of the conference.

Q: How do we get around the challenge that a lot of environmentally sound investments pay off over time but have high upfront costs?

A: If those who make the day-to-day decisions are rewarded for much shorter-term profits, it should not be surprising that their decisions will reflect that reward structure.

Q: Your new book, Our Choice, offers a far-reaching blueprint for solving the climate crisis. In the context of the Greenbuild conference, what is the message you hope the average reader will take away from it?

A: I hope the readers of this book will provide support – including with their decisions in the marketplace – for the powerful movements among architects and builders to integrate green features into new construction and the retrofit market. They save money, protect the environment and enhance our national security by helping to reduce our ridiculous overdependence on imported oil and carbon-based fuels generally.

Q: How much is the current recession setting back progress on green development?

A: I don’t really think that it has. Construction of buildings is one of the oft-used initiatives to put people back to work quickly. Those jobs can’t be outsourced. When we face this planetary emergency, and the need to reduce our dependency on an oil market dominated by large reserves controlled by sovereign states in the Persian Gulf, it makes sense to integrate green elements into all facets of it.

Q: What is the coolest feature in green building these days, in your view?

A: I guess it’s in the eye of the beholder. Photovoltaic panels often capture the most attention. But the new windows are big energy savers.

And, of course, features that often seem more mundane . . . can save enormous amounts of money on both heating and cooling. Lightbulbs are going to become even more exciting as money-savers when the new LED systems are available early next year.

This should mean a whole lot of new energy jobs. So where are they – and how do you get one?

The clean energy sector has certainly been on a tear in recent years, and there will be a lot more money flowing in to meet government-backed demand. Here’s the “but”:

The recession has walloped the clean energy sector like every other, and no one is going on a hiring spree right now. Companies have shelved plans for wind farms, solar parks and biofuels plants. Some have laid off workers. Others have been forced to seek bankruptcy protection.

Still, this is a growth field, and most agree business will pick up later this year or in 2010.

Renewable energy provides a small fraction of electricity used today but the wind and solar sectors are among the fastest growing in the United States.

Between 1998 and 2007, renewable energy employment grew by about 9.1 percent, according to a recent study by The Pew Charitable Trusts that was based on an extensive jobs database. That still totals only about 770,000 jobs, or about one half of 1 percent of all jobs in the United States, according to the study. And the period under study ended before the recession struck, so it remains unclear how well the new energy sector has fared since then.

Yet there are early signs that, in addition to government funding, venture capital continues to pour into renewable energy.

Here are some questions and answers about the industry, including what kind of jobs are available.

Q: What kinds of renewable energy jobs are there?

A: Just about any job found in a traditional industry can apply to renewables. But a few fields stand out.

Solar and wind turbine manufacturing plants will need assembly line workers. Mechanics, electricians and maintenance workers will be needed for wind farms, solar parks and biofuels plants. And many types of science and engineering positions will be central to the growth of the industry.

Q: How is the federal money being allocated?

The package includes about $21 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy manufacturers, which has been a key source of funding to help them lure additional investments.

About $11 billion is being earmarked for improving the nation’s overcrowded, aging electricity system.

Other allocations include: $6 billion, energy efficiency projects; $5 billion, weatherization program for low-income housing; $2 billion, advanced battery technology; $500 million, job training; $300 million, fuel-efficient vehicles for federal government use.

Q: What particular parts of the renewable energy sector are hiring?

A: About 65 percent of the jobs today are with companies that recycle waste, cut greenhouse gas pollution and handle water conservation, according to the Pew study released this month.

There also has been job growth this year at major utilities that are quickly adding a big solar component to the business, said Neal Lurie of the American Solar Energy Society.

Q: What kind of experience is needed?

A: Many types of jobs require little or no additional training and transition smoothly to the green industry – accountants, stock clerks, security guards or electricians are all represented in the field.

Community colleges are offering training classes for more specialized jobs, such as solar panel installation, wind turbine repair and biofuels processing.

An electrician, for example, can spend a couple of weeks in training and then begin installing solar panels. A plumber can be trained in a few weeks to install solar thermal water heaters, said Roger Bezdek, president of consultancy Management Information Services Inc.

Q: What is the salary range?

A: A study released this year by Management Information Services and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics detailed some median annual salaries:

Insulation worker, $30,800; recycling worker, $26,400; energy audit specialist, $40,300; environmental engineer, $76,000; environmental engineer technician, $42,800; microbiologist, $64,600; physicist, $93,300.

Q: What’s the best way to break into the field?

A: Do a little research to figure out where your interests lie, think about your work experience, and consider what sector is growing in your region, or in a place where you’d be willing to relocate. Volunteer at nonprofit organizations or tour businesses to see the technology and how it works.

There are a number of Web sites that list renewable energy jobs and job hunting tips, such as the American Solar Energy Society, Renewable Energy World and Sustainable Business.

Q: Do I have to move to find a green job?

A: Maybe. There are states with a stronger green energy base and, historically, more green jobs per capita.

There are, however, some states to keep an eye on when the economy does rebound.

Maine is a close runner-up to Oregon for green jobs per capita; Massachusetts, Minnesota, Colorado, Idaho and California also have a higher-than-average number of jobs in the field. Colorado is big on wind, and Arizona, not surprisingly, attracts solar types.

American Solar Energy Society

Renewable Energy World

Sustainable Business

Management Information Services Inc.

The Pew Charitable Trusts

Sandy Shore – Jun. 23, 2009 02:21 PM
Associated Press

Organization: Stirling Energy Systems Inc. Location: 4800 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 5500, Scottsdale.

Background: SES makes the SunCatcher solar dish, which uses a mirror technology to harness the sun’s heat and generate electricity. The company touts its system’s minimal water usage compared with the water used in thermal-energy-generating technology.
Opportunities: There are 10 positions open in the Phoenix area, and the company hopes to add 30 by year’s end. Open positions range from engineering to manufacturing, supply-chain management, information technology and administration.

“Renewable energy, particularly solar, is definitely a hot industry,” spokeswoman Janette Coates said. “We’ve gone from a technology that’s been tested and has undergone lots of research and development . . . and now that technology is ready to be commercialized and go into large-scale production.”

How to apply: Go to http://stirlingenergy.com/people.htm. Applicants can sign up for alerts when new positions open up.

The scoop: Candidates need to be able to thrive in a “fast-paced environment,” Coates said. “Even though the company has been around for years now, in essence, we’re in another kind of entrepreneurial startup mode.”

Applicants should make sure to match their skills with the job description. They should research SES and show how the position could fit into their career aspirations.
Industry stats: While solar power currently comprises a tiny fraction of overall energy use, the sector is projected to continue to grow and provide more high-quality career opportunities.

That’s especially true after February’s passage of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. The Solar Energy Industries Association in Washington estimates the stimulus funds will create 110,000 solar-related jobs this year and next.

The Arizona Department of Commerce and Albiasa Solar of Spain will announce Monday a $1 billion solar-thermal power plant will be built near Kingman next year, generating enough power for 50,000 homes at once when it opens in 2013.

It’s the third large Arizona solar plant announced in less than 18 months, although one of the first two has been scrapped and the other won’t be running until 2011.
The Kingman plant will create 2,000 construction jobs and 100 permanent jobs, according to the Commerce Department.

“The arrival of Albiasa Corp. is yet another big step toward establishing Arizona as a leader in the sustainable-industries sector,” Gov. Jan Brewer said.

The Spanish company incorporated a U.S. subsidiary in August, officials said, and has been scouting the Southwest desert from offices in Phoenix and San Francisco.

Although Albiasa officials won’t disclose the exact location of the 1,400 acres where they have secured the rights to build the plant, they said they chose the Kingman area because it was one of the few places with transmission capability on power lines.

“With the power loads in the Southwest cities, there are not a whole lot of power lines to get the power over there,” said Jesse Tippett, managing director for Albiasa’s U.S. operations.
Tippett and Albiasa’s chief project engineer Albert Fong said they are negotiating with utilities in the region to purchase the power from the plant, which is a major factor in getting financing for large power projects.

They also said that they are looking to utilities, such as Arizona Public Service Co. or Pacific Gas and Electric in California, that might be willing to finance the power plant now that utilities qualify for the same federal incentives that only developers qualified for last year.

Albiasa is building a 50-megawatt plant in Spain, and plans to use the same technology in Arizona, Fong said.

One megawatt of power-generating capacity is enough for about 250 homes in Arizona at once while a power plant is running.

Solar-thermal power plants don’t use the common black panels to make electricity. Instead, they use mirrors to focus sunlight on liquid-filled tubes. They use the hot fluid to make steam and spin turbines, much like coal, natural-gas and nuclear plants operate, but without the need for fuel.

Albiasa officials said they planned to use molten salt to store heat from the plant so it can keep generating power after sunset.

That also is the plan for Solana Generating Station, a 280-megawatt solar-thermal plant planned for Gila Bend by Abengoa Solar Inc. of Spain.

APS announced that it would buy the energy from that power plant once it is running in 2011. Last year, officials said they were struggling to get financing for the project, but APS spokesman Steven Gotfried said Friday the plans were moving forward.

Another 250-megawatt solar-thermal plant announced in December 2007 by APS, Salt River Project, Tucson Electric Power Co. and several smaller utilities has been shelved because the power companies apparently couldn’t come to agreement on the project.

Science Foundation Arizona is investing $4 million to develop an institute focusing on different solar power generating technologies to spur more innovation in the state, the organization announced Friday.

SFAz is forming the Solar Technology Institute to handle research on five specific aspects of
solar technology: concentrated photovoltaics, nanostructured films for photovoltaics, better environmental performance and reliability, compressed-air energy storage and a smart energy grid.

The institute will pull together resources from solar companies statewide as well as the University of Arizona and Arizona State University. Richard Powell and Robert Annan will serve as co-directors. The Stardust Foundation will assist with the financing.

“With STI’s combined expertise, we can leverage our financial and brainpower capital toward the best solar initiatives and breakthroughs in new solar products and technologies,” said William Harris, president and CEO of SFAz. “These returns on investment can significantly impact Arizona’s emerging prominence in solar and position the state to benefit from upcoming federal competitions.”

Both UA and ASU have been doing research in the solar field for years. ASU is home to the TUV-Rheinland Photovoltaic Testing Lab, a partnership with one of the largest private testing groups in the world and one of the only such labs in the U.S.

“The creation of STI is a huge step forward in incorporating solar into our energy mix and in positioning Arizona to become a net exporter of solar products, services and technologies worldwide,” said Rick Shangraw, vice president for research and economic affairs at ASU.
For more: www.sfaz.org/our-investments/solarinitiatives.aspx.

Valley farmers markets have come up with cool ways to keep their ventures open during the long hot summer.

They start early, drape shade cloth over aisles and set up misting systems.
But one city has come up with a novel way to extend the life of its market.
Scottsdale’s Old Town Farmers Market will go underground in June. Since November, the Saturday market has operated at street level on a city-owned parking structure downtown near Brown Avenue and Second Street.

Robin Meinhart, the city’s downtown liaison, said the market will be set up in the lower level of the parking structure from June 6 to July 4. A portable misting system will be installed to keep produce and people from wilting. The market is scheduled to run from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays.

Of the approximately two dozen farmers markets in the Valley, several stay open year-round, including the one at Roadrunner Park in northeast Phoenix. That market has operated for 18 years and runs from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays at the park, 3502 E. Cactus Road.

The Arizona Community Farmers Market runs the Roadrunner and Scottsdale markets. It also runs year-round markets in Mesa and Ahwatukee, founder manager Dee Logan said. Logan said summer is salad time with lettuce and tomatoes as well as melons and other fruit available.
“All those things that make life easier when you’re in a hot climate are coming up now,” she said.

Patrons craving locally produced goods from organic vegetables to artisan breads don’t mind shopping in the heat. The vendors don’t mind either. Logan said more and more vendors continue on through the summer.

Kelly Garcia sells cupcakes and other pastries at Scottsdale’s farmers market. She looks forward to participating this summer.

“It is a great opportunity for people downtown and in the surrounding areas to depend on a local market,” she said.

Scottsdale neighbors Margaret Melanson and Carmen Padgett are already Saturday regulars. They were happy to hear that the Scottsdale market will continue.

“We’d come. Without a doubt,” Padgett said.

The 4-year-old downtown Phoenix Public Market run by Community Food Connections operates throughout the year, rain or shine, said Cindy Gentry, Community Food Connections director.
The market is open from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays and 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays at the southeastern corner of Central Avenue and McKinley Street.

“We have produce year-round. Our goal is to increase access to healthy foods and to keep farmers on the land,” Gentry said.

She said customers do not mind the heat and enjoy buying locally produced goods.

“There is a sense of community and creativity and openness. I always feel like what we’re trying to do is set the table and invite people in,” she said.

Shade cloths cover the aisles, and portable coolers are used to offset the heat.

“We figure out ways. Some of them aren’t the most graceful or the most beautiful. We like to say our produce is always fresh, but maybe our farmer’s aren’t,” Gentry joked.

For a list of farmers markets go to food.azcentral.com.

Arizona Public Service Co. is teaming with a defense company and private-equity firm to build another solar-power plant west of Phoenix that could help it surpass state-imposed alternative-energy requirements.

The $1.5 billion plant, to be built and run by Lockheed Martin Corp., should be operating by 2013 and, in combination with other projects, would give APS double the 4.5 percent of electricity from renewable sources required by 2014, the companies said Thursday.

APS says the Starwood Solar I power plant, to be financed and owned by Starwood Energy Group of Connecticut, is a sign of its growing commitment to renewable energy. With Congress moving on laws to limit greenhouse-gas pollution, APS officials said solar plants are a better option than coal, natural-gas or nuclear plants to supply the state’s growing power demands, regardless of the state requirements.

“We’ve set our business plan in place, and solar is it,” CEO Don Brandt said Thursday. “We view solar power and energy efficiency as our best alternatives now and in the best interest of our customers.”

The plant will occupy about 3 square miles of farmland in the Harquahala Valley 75 miles west of the Phoenix city limits. With a 290-megawatt capacity, the plant will provide enough energy to power 72,500 homes while the sun shines, and it will keep the power flowing six hours after sunset by storing heat.

The plant will use solar-thermal technology. Instead of black solar panels, curved mirrors will focus sunlight on tubes of fluid. That fluid will heat water and make steam to spin a turbine and generate electricity.
Some of the heat will be stored in molten salt so the plant can continue to make steam and energy after sunset.

Starwood Solar I will be slightly larger than the Solana Generating Station, which Spanish company Abengoa Solar Inc. announced last year that it was developing in Gila Bend and which also will sell all its power to APS.

Abengoa is still seeking financing for Solana amid a global credit crunch, and the project’s 2011 opening has been pushed back, Brandt said.

Starwood Energy is an affiliate of a private-equity firm by the same name, and company officials said they don’t expect a problem financing the new plant.

Starwood will pursue private and Energy Department financing, CEO Brad Nordholm said.
“The markets have been very thin but will be improving,” he said. “For a project that has a strong (purchase agreement), strong sponsor and strong construction contracts, like we have, we believe the markets are open.”

APS officials will seek approval of the contract from the Arizona Corporation Commission, which regulates utility rates.

The commission requires that utilities get 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2025, with incremental targets along the way.

In 2014, the requirement is 4.5 percent, but APS will be getting 9 percent of its energy from renewable sources if both plants progress as planned and won’t need more renewable energy to meet its requirement until 2019.

“We’ve got limited options between now and 2020,” Brandt said. “Coal is not viable because of the carbon costs and the expense, and I don’t think anybody believes this country will build a new nuclear reactor before 2020.”

To help pay for its renewable-energy efforts, APS charges customers a monthly fee, now capped at $3.17 for residential ratepayers. The utility will ask regulators to approve a fee increase to help pay for energy from the new plant.

Officials couldn’t say how much the tariff would increase but did say the solar energy would be less costly to ratepayers than buying energy from coal or natural-gas plants if Congress approves the greenhouse-gas restrictions being considered.

APS will spend more than $100 million a year, or $4 billion over 30 years, buying the plant’s power.

The company will pay about 8 percent more for the solar power than for power from natural-gas plants, said Pat Dinkel, APS’ renewable-energy director. But if the greenhouse-gas legislation is enacted, or natural-gas prices rise, solar power will be about even with traditional power, he said.

Corporation Commission Chairwoman Kris Mayes said that even if APS customers have to pay slightly more for the energy, more solar power is a better investment for ratepayers than traditional power plants.

“If we didn’t build these renewable projects, rates would go up even more because we’d be reliant on coal-fired power generation, which is about to be taxed by Congress,” she said. “I am a believer in investing in nuclear energy, but when you look at the cost, it is actually more expensive megawatt for megawatt compared with solar.”

A Lockheed official said the Maryland-based defense company will bring its engineering expertise from satellite and missile programs to the energy industry, which he predicts will be an important part of the company’s future.

“We view energy as a national-security issue,” said Chris Myers, Lockheed’s vice president of energy programs.

“We are a global security company,” Myers added. “We work on products that help protect the U.S., our friends and our allies. This (solar-power plant) still is part of the global security environment in my view.”