Dec 22 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - William Roller The Sun, Yuma, Ariz.


In an effort to act on President Obama's jobs summit of Dec. 3, a series of forums are sounding out rural communities' perspective of how best to expand employment.

Alan Stephens, U.S. Department of Agriculture rural development state director, arrived from Phoenix to get input Monday from community members, including state Sen. Amanda Aguirre and state Rep. Lynne Pancrazi, who are both from the 24th district.

Stephens told the gathering at the Somerton Senior Center he will forward recommendations to Washington, D.C.

Pancrazi pointed out that one way for the state to pull itself out of its projected $2 billion deficit is to harness the county's natural advantage of sunlight and offer incentives for solar industry companies to relocate here.

Aguirre agreed and noted the Legislature recently approved tax credits for green technologies who move to the state. But these green companies must create jobs for local communities, not just temporary jobs in construction but long-term employment at the plants' operations, she said.

"The things I hear from the business is less regulation. We need to streamline the licensing process. Some regulation for safety is necessary but you don't want to discourage business from Arizona."

Paul Newman, a member of the state's Corporation Commission that regulates utility rates, said the state must start to switch to renewable energy such as solar. Not only is it cleaner than coal and natural gas but will create jobs and save money because it is more efficient.

A $100 billion investment in green technology from the government and private sectors could create two million jobs in the next two years, Newman said. And the commission is already putting into place energy efficiency rules.

They aim to cut energy use by 20 percent by 2020, which will lower utility rates, and expansion of solar energy could assist that effort. There are two basic types of solar energy jobs that will result: solar photovoltaics (PVs) and solar concentrators, he said.

PVs are arrays of cells in rooftop panels containing a material that converts solar radiation into direct current electricity. Solar concentrators use Frensel lenses that take a large area of sunlight and direct it to a specific spot by bending the rays of light and focusing them to produce energy, Newman said.

"In Arizona we've been approached by companies with shovel-ready projects estimated between $1 to $2 billion. APS (Arizona Public Service) contracted with a Spanish company to use solar concentrators just outside Case Grande.

"At another project in Dateland, a company signed a purchase power agreement with a power company in Southern California that is very well capitalized."

In addition, the National Renewable Energy Labs, a facility of the Department of Energy, has recognized the whole corridor of the Colorado River basin as the best solar resource in the world, Newman said. Yuma is in a prime position to compete in creating transmission lines for solar energy serving the Phoenix and Southern California markets.

But John Morales, director of Yuma Private Industry Council, a nonprofit that matches employees with industry needs, said Yuma must build a cadre of trained people.

Morales noted a potentially lucrative possibility would be the cultivation of weatherization experts, particularly energy auditors. These consultants would investigate energy loss in private homes and businesses and advise how they could be more efficient.

"The USDA could bring in folks who could certify the energy auditors. That doesn't mean the community colleges couldn't do it. But some of these green technologies are so new it's not going to happen overnight."

Renewable energy must develop a market by demonstrating to people the advantages of green technology and once residents see the benefits, companies will know they can profit and they will invest in the industry, Morales said.

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