Editorial: Solar plant offers area big benefit

Monday, July 14, 2003 | 8:41 a.m.

It seems sometimes that everything associated with energy is bad news. Gasoline prices are going up. Power companies are being granted rate increases. We're running out of natural gas. The president wants to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Vehicle emissions are dirtying the air. Conventional power-generating plants are causing acid rain. The federal government has no solution for nuclear waste except to bury it in our state. There is, however, potentially very good news about energy emanating from Boulder City.

There is a strong possibility that Boulder City and Solargenix, a worldwide solar power company, may agree to do business with each other. The company wants to lease 350 acres of city property in the Eldorado Valley to build a 50-megawatt power plant. That's enough energy to power 50,000 homes. If Boulder City and the company can reach agreement on the cost of the lease, the plant could be operating in less than two years.

Boulder City's charter prohibits the City Council from leasing land for any less than its appraised value, a point of negotiation between the company and the city. There is one exception, however. The lease could be lower if the Planning Commission decides that the lease would benefit the community. Last week, in an encouraging move, the City Council asked the Planning Commission to determine whether a solar plant would benefit Boulder City.

In our judgment, the solar plant would be a benefit to the whole state. A plant that size would make Nevada the largest producer of solar energy in the country, and would likely attract other solar industries. We have the sun, and with clean energy in such short supply, it should be put to use.