Sunday, Dec. 9, 2007 | 2:24 a.m.
By Tom Werner and Matt Cheney
Nevada is blessed with abundant natural resources. Drive down an open stretch of U.S. 95 and most days you will be lucky enough to experience at least two of them: a strong crosswind, and more sun than the eyes can handle.
In fact, Nevada has 100,000 megawatts of potential solar resources just waiting to be tapped and converted into affordable and reliable energy. That's enough energy to power 20 million households. Tapping these vast natural resources will bring the state a wealth of jobs and economic growth.
Solar energy options also provide many advantages over conventional sources, such as coal. A solar plant provides twice as many local jobs as a similarly sized coal plant does. Once it is built, there are no surprises.
No one will be able to raise the price of the sun or embargo its supply. And there are no unforeseen consequences because we know that the fuel and pollution costs are exactly zero. Most importantly, solar plants can scale up quickly to help America achieve national energy security.
It is therefore no surprise that MMA Renewable Ventures and SunPower Corp. will be joining the U.S. Air Force later this month to celebrate our completion of North America's largest solar photovoltaic system, at Nellis Air Force Base. Our public-private partnership with the Air Force will result in the generation of more than 30 million kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually and supply 25 percent of the total power used at the base, where 12,000 people live and work.
All in all, the solar electric system is expected to save Nellis $1 million a year while making its energy supply more secure and sustainable.
With the right economic environment, these savings are far from unusual. Major U.S. companies, such as Google, Wal-Mart, Gap and Macy's, are installing solar technology to reduce energy costs and increase their profitability. We have the potential to stimulate hundreds of projects like these with solar resources from Nevada and the rest of the nation.
Here's the challenge: Financing and building a new diversified clean energy economy can take a long time to complete.
Because of the long-term nature of this investment, it is critical that Nevada's U.S. senators ensure a stable tax policy for solar energy projects. That means we need their support of an eight-year extension of the solar energy investment tax credit, which is now before the Senate as part of energy legislation.
The investment tax credit provides critical support for financing, planning and building solar energy plants, and it will cost us a fraction of the subsidies the coal and oil industries have enjoyed for decades. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid supports the investment tax credit. We need Sen. John Ensign to do the same.
Because of the uncertainty of whether the investment tax credit will exist in the long run, China and other growing economies are receiving capital investments that could be made here in the United States. America needs to establish the investment tax credit for the long term to spur investor confidence in the capital investment that will help Nevada become a leading exporter of solar energy to other states.
The energy business is, financially, the largest on the planet, and Nevada has the potential to be on the front line of the inevitable - and hugely profitable - shift to renewable forms of energy. It is time to explore the vast wealth of solar power here in Nevada. And it's time for our government to help - not hinder - the growth of solar energy.
With support from Congress, solar will be the cornerstone of America's national energy security in the 21st century.
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