It's not easy being green in Utah. Stunted by cheap coal power generation, the state's renewable energy industry has been crawling along for decades, unable to thrive. Existing projects, primarily hydroelectric and geothermal, with a wisp of wind power, represent just 3-5 percent of the electricity generated in the Beehive State.
But the industry could soon be lurching to its feet, spurred on by climate-change concerns, technological advances, a green-leaning governor and a task force determined to meet an ambitious but attainable goal set by the state Legislature.
The journey began in earnest last week as the Utah Renewable Energy Zone Task Force, a 20-member panel of energy experts appointed by Gov. Jon Huntsman, convened.
Composed of representatives from utility companies, government agencies and environmental advocacy groups, the group will start slowly by identifying renewable energy zones with the greatest potential for commercial-scale solar, wind and geothermal power plants. Subsequent efforts will center on determining development costs, transmission needs within renewable energy corridors, and drafting policy recommendations that would jump-start planning and permitting for renewable energy projects and power lines.
The goal: meet the state Legislature's mandate by producing 20 percent of our power from renewable or low-carbon sources by 2025.
It will be a difficult endeavor, due in part to a legislative requirement that the renewable energy projects be "cost-effective," and to a lack of transmission lines in some areas with the greatest clean-and-green energy potential. Plus, there's limited potential for large-scale geothermal and wind-power production in Utah, which lacks the wind-swept plains of a west Texas or Wyoming, and the vast geothermal fields of a California or Nevada.
But the potential for commercial-scale solar energy projects in sun-soaked southern Utah, which averages 300 sunny days per year, is reason for optimism. And the rewards - improved air quality, a reduced carbon footprint and the economic benefits that would accrue from taking a lead role in alternative energy development - will make the journey worthwhile.
