Colorado Ratepayers Call for Solar Power Incentives

Denver, Colorado [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Ratepayers United of Colorado recommends that policies outlined in the Western Governor’s Association January 2006 Solar Task Force Report be aggressively implemented.

In asking for incentives to use solar power for electric power instead of coal, particularly concentrating solar power (CSP), the group submitted testimony to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) citing CSP’s ability to produce steam with mirrors that gather sunlight. “Ratepayers in Colorado are being asked to pay premium prices for our utilities to burn more coal, and to accept uncertainty about future electric costs and massive environmental costs,” said Dan Friedlander, an individual in the Colorado PUC case. “Instead we should develop our abundant solar resources and meet all our power needs securely.” John S. O’Donnell, who submitted the testimony on CSP, said, “The southwestern United States has superb solar resources, with more energy than Saudi Arabia, waiting to be tapped.” “If we build CSP plants instead, we avoid paying for the coal and its transportation and the monumental back-end costs to bury its exhaust,” explained Alison Burchell, a geologist and spokesperson for Ratepayers United of Colorado. “Building solar infrastructure is the best use of our money now, and the best legacy we can leave future generations,” said Friedlander.