More Good News for Solar Electricity Generation

The relentless progress of alternative energy is leaving the government in its wake. More and more utilities are seeing the value of large-scale solar arrays to generate not just hot water but electricity. Today in the WSJ I read about Pacific Gas and Electric, which just signed on to the largest single photovoltaic commitment from an electric utility anywhere in the world.

They’ll be buying power from OptiSolar’s new 550 megawatt Topaz Solar Farm project, near the Central California coast. The panels will begin making electricity in 2011.

Another person who is in the alternative energy spotlight is T. Boone Pickens, who I trumpeted before for his Pickens Plan. Looking further into what he’s up to, a fellow blogger Daryl LaFleur, who writes “Northampton Redoubt” (what DOES that mean, anyway?) said ‘check out Picken’s water plan.

Indeed not only does this aging Texas oilman have a big grand wind energy play, he wants to build a pipeline to carry water hundreds of miles from an aquifer in North Texas to thirsty Dallas and Houston. Daryl seemed to think that there was something sinister in the water scheme. To me it just makes sense. Bring water from one of the biggest aquifers in the US where few people live and few people need water, to a city where the needs are great.

Juan Williams interviewed Pickens and asserted that he is doing this for a big payday. “I’ve already had plenty of big paydays,” said T. Boone. “I’m doing this because America needs help and this plan just makes sense.” I believe him–not everybody is out for the bucks.