Solar is coming to a State and electric utility near you

San Francisco Chronicle/Associated Press, 10/12/12, "Public land set aside for solar plants."

"Federal officials approved a plan Friday that sets aside 285,000 acres of public land for the development of large-scale solar power plants, cementing a new government approach to renewable energy development in the West after years of delays and false starts.

Goodbye to old energy technology

Hello to new electric energy technology

At a news conference in Las Vegas, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called the new plan a "roadmap ... that will lead to faster, smarter utility-scale solar development on public lands."  The plan replaces the department's previous first-come, first-served system of approving solar projects, which let developers choose where they wanted to build and allowed for land speculation. Instead, it will direct development to land it has identified as having fewer wildlife and natural-resource obstacles.

The government is establishing 17 new "solar energy zones" on 285,000 acres in six states: California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. Most of the land - 153,627 acres - is in Southern California."

Posted by Kathy Meeh