Arizona EXTERNALITIES

The Arizona Republic…May. 29, 2008 12:00 AM …Ryan Randazzo … excerpted
Salt River Project could build three natural-gas power plants in Pinal County to meet its growing peak summer electricity demand, the utility announced Wednesday.

SRP already has announced plans to buy 575 megawatts of electricity from a fourth natural-gas plant that Calgary, Alberta-based TransCanada Corp. plans to build near Coolidge. But the utility's planners expect peak summer demand for its central Arizona territory to rise by 2,500 megawatts by 2020 and want to develop the three other plants to meet the demand. Utility officials couldn't estimate the price for the plants because it is too early in the planning process. But when SRP raised customer rates earlier this year, officials said the increase was needed to fund an estimated $7 billion in power-plant additions in the next six years.

The gas plants would only operate during hot summer afternoons when SRP customers use much more electricity than at night or in the winter, officials said.

HELP ME UNDERSTAND ... during our Arizona summer at peak sunlight SRP chooses to invest in building three NEW gas fired electric generating facilities instead of investing in a RENEWALABLE energy source – SUN – freely given and available every day…?

Yea, solar today may not be as inexpensive to produce but over time…?

Is SRP or any utility honestly telling me that technology does not currently exist to bring the cost of solar down…? Sorry, but I smell a rat.

The southwest – NM – Texas – Arizona – Nevada – So Calif should be the “hot bed” of solar power generation. If technology does not currently exist to permit solar power to be generated at a cost on par with hydroelectric or nuclear it is only because “we” allowed them to juggle and cook the books. “We” do not demand they include all the EXTERNALITIES as they develop their cost for hydroelectric or nuclear, thereby allowing them to pass all those cost forward for you and me to pay.