Study: Arizona should export solar power

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by Ryan Randazzo -

The Arizona Republic

Arizona is an ideal place to generate solar power, and some of its neighbors are prime candidates to use that energy, setting up a possible opportunity for energy exports from the Grand Canyon State.

That is the conclusion from Matt Croucher, an assistant research professor at the ASU business school, in a new article in the Electricity Journal.

The study found that while Arizona is a good place to generate power from the sun, it's not really the most ideal place to use that power. Croucher found that to maximize the benefits of using solar power, Arizona's electrons should be sold out of state.

"If the U.S. is serious about maximizing the societal benefits of solar generation, then we need to look at the national level at how different states can serve not only their own needs, but also those of other states with less ability to create electricity using solar technologies," he said.

His research looked at where it is most cost effective to build solar-power plants.

He compared that data with where it is most beneficial to use the energy from those plants, based on the price of traditional energy and the amount of fossil-fuel power generation that solar power might displace, reducing pollution.

"When you add solar generation there is the criticism that it is not cost competitive with standard technology, which can have potentially negative economic impacts," Croucher said. "States with high electricity prices already, the structure of their economy is different, and they can potentially absorb any additional increases."

Based on his research, Hawaii, Delaware, Alaska, Wisconsin, Maryland, Ohio, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Massachusetts are good places to consume solar power.

Arizona has a requirement that regulated utilities get 15 percent of their power from renewable sources such as solar by 2025, and California has a similar requirement for 33 percent of its energy by 2020.

Developers are working to build dozens of solar plants in Arizona with hopes of serving California's huge population and requirement to use renewable energy, but Croucher said that California might not be the most ideal place for that power. It ranked No. 38 on the list of most desirable states to use solar, while Arizona was No. 41.

He said it's more likely solar power used in other states would displace polluting fossil-fuel plants because California already has moved to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.

"Given that (Californians) have already spent many, many years making sure that their generation mix doesn't have a very high carbon-dioxide content, from a pure societal perspective, it would be better to look elsewhere," he said. "But of course the price side of things is very important."

While Hawaii and Alaska are not likely to get power from Arizona, Croucher said that in general his research shows the most ideal use of solar would be to generate power in the West and export it eastward.

The report concludes Arizona isn't the best place to use solar power because energy prices are comparatively low here, and the state doesn't house as many carbon-emitting coal-fired power plants as other parts of the country, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data.

However, Arizona would likely rank as a more ideal place to consume solar if the study had calculated the actual amount of power Arizona gets from coal power, since utilities here rely on out-of-state coal plants for electricity, Croucher said.

He added that to export significant amounts of solar power, new transmission lines will be required. "If Arizona is going to maximize the benefits from its competitive advantage in solar generation, it will need to figure out how to successfully export significant quantities to other states, which may require investing in infrastructure."

Read more: http://www.azcentral...l#ixzz168Yn4Lq5

[Captain Oates 911]

They are discriminating against Seattle because we are liberal