Feature

Creating Jobs in Green Energy- Oriented Economy

For being the second driest state in the nation, Utah is sure looking green these days.

While the state's heritage has largely been tied to traditional energy sources for low cost power, Samantha Mary Julian, business development manager at EDCUtah, says a shift is taking place -- from north to south, from the highest echelons of government to its public utilities, corporate citizens, counties and municipalities -- Utah is making strides towards energy efficiency and a green energy-oriented economy. The result, in addition to a cleaner environment, could be the generation of thousands of jobs.

In fact, Utah Clean Energy, a nonprofit advocacy group and EDCUtah investor, says focusing on projects that produce renewable energy, such as wind, solar and geothermal, could generate as many as 7,000 jobs in the state by 2020. Last week the group briefed policymakers and architects about green energy and is currently preparing a full report entitled "Building the Clean Energy Economy: A Study on Jobs and Economic Development of Clean Energy in Utah," which it will release mid-March.

7,000 Jobs

Sarah Wright, executive director of Utah Clean Energy, says the jobs forecasted are not tied in any way to government stimulus packages, but rather are based upon potential jobs created by meeting Utah's energy efficiency and renewable energy goals. What's more, she says, the job numbers are fairly conservative and could prove to be greater, since the study did not take into account jobs created by renewable energy-related manufacturing companies in the state or export of renewable energy generation to surrounding states.

Governor Huntsman has made it clear that alternative energy is a priority for his administration, setting a goal for the state to achieve a 20 percent increase in energy efficiency by 2015,. In 2008, the Utah Legislature passed and Governor Huntsman signed into law a target for Utah to derive 20 percent of its electricity sales from renewable resources by 2025.

Jason Berry, manager of the Utah State Energy Program (SEP), says the Governor's goals are meant to be across the board and not limited to government buildings or agencies. "The state is really interested in energy efficiency and renewable energy," he says. "The Governor's goals apply to all energy sectors -- commercial, industrial, transportation and residential."

Energy Efficiency

Berry says his office has focused a lot of its attention on energy efficiency through building codes, since buildings use (and often times waste) enormous amounts of energy. Improvements in energy efficiency across the state will reduce the demand for the utilities to build more power plants or buy power on the open market, thus saving the ratepayer money and helping the environment.

In a related effort, Utah Clean Energy, whose mission is to partner to build the new clean energy economy, has a goal to help Utah reduce its electricity and natural gas consumption by 12 percent by 2012 and increase the amount of renewable energy used in Utah to 12 percent by 2012. Both goals are aligned with the larger state goals for alternative energy.

Julian says EDCUtah receives numerous inquiries from solar energy, wind power and recycling companies interested in the state, and they all want to know what the governor, the legislature and local governments are doing to help encourage green energy development.

"People are fully aware that Utah has traditionally been reliant on coal for low-cost power. In their inquiries with us, many businesses want to know what strides the state is making in terms of alternative energy and energy efficiency," she adds.

Renewable Energy

Utah is actually one of 12 states participating in the National Governors' Association Center for Best Practices Securing a Clean Energy Future initiative, an effort to identify high quality, developable renewable resources to expedite the development and delivery of green-generated electricity.

As part of that effort the Governor has initiated the Utah Renewable Energy Zone Task Force (UREZ), which is co-chaired by Dr. Dianne Nielson, the Governor's energy advisor, and Dr. Rick Allis, director of Utah Geological Survey. UREZ members include representatives from utilities companies, renewable energy generation developers, environmental organizations, federal, state and local government representatives, and energy advocate representatives. The UREZ Task Force has established the following priorities:

• Identify renewable energy zones (REZs)
• Identify information or procedures to recognize areas with cumulative potential for larger amounts of renewable energy production
• Generate information to identify renewable energy resource areas within and outside REZs
• Support renewable energy development
• Identify policies or market mechanisms that would facilitate transmission planning and permitting for renewable energy projects
• Quantify cost-effective generation potential
• Identify necessary transmission to bring resources to market

The State Energy Program has published a report and interactive map of the energy zones here.

Berry says Utah is gaining ground quickly in terms of renewable energy development. The state has its own unique diversity of resources and renewable energy companies are scouting out potential locations for solar, wind and geothermal facilities. Infrastructure problems have been an inhibitor of renewable energy development in the past, but Berry is hopeful the Utah Sate Legislature will address some of those issues during the remaining days of this legislative session.

Legislative Action

The Legislature is actually considering two bills and a resolution that will help bring renewable energy jobs to Utah. The first bill, HB 430, would create jobs by attracting manufacturing and power generation facilities in the renewable energy industry. This bill allows the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) to establish energy development zones and to offer tax credits to companies located in those development zones. The second bill, SB 76, would create a political subdivision of the State tasked with the development of a master plan for renewable energy production and transmission infrastructure. This subdivision will have the ability to apply for and seek out federal grants, as well as bonding authority to pay for transmission lines. Packaged together, these two bills will make Utah a top choice for renewable energy manufacturing and production companies looking to relocate. The Senate Joint Resolution, SJR 1, encourages municipal governments to work collaboratively with the State Energy Program and other stakeholders to develop and consider adoption of model renewable energy ordinances, which would help streamline developments and potentially attract more projects across the state.

If the transmission problems can be worked out, Berry says an area in southern Utah known as the "Escalante Valley" could become ground zero for renewable energy development and put Utah within the upper tier of states for producing energy from wind, with the potential for producing over 1,000 megawatts there. The same area is also a hotbed for geothermal and solar energy production.

Teaming Up

In addition to the State Energy Program and Utah Clean Energy, Utah is fortunate to have a variety of other entities working to help build the state's economy around alternative energy and efficiency. Other such organizations include the following:

-- EDCUtah and GOED, in addition to their other economic development efforts, are helping to build Utah's energy and natural resources cluster by recruiting businesses to the state that generate renewable energy, manufacture renewable energy products, such as wind turbines or solar cells, and companies that are not in the energy industry but want their businesses to be powered by renewable energy, such as heavy power users.

-- Utah Science, Technology and Research (UTSAR) recently partnered with Headwaters Inc., a Utah-based natural resources company, to offer carbon services to carbon-dioxide-emitting companies, from carbon storage engineering to risk and liability management. University of Utah researcher and USTAR-recruit Brian McPherson is leading an effort to make Utah the leader in groundbreaking carbon capture and sequestration technology, which could be the salvation of the coal industry by resolving greenhouse gas emissions problems.

In another USTAR initiative, the Utah State University's Energy Lab is developing bio jet fuel from algae for the nation's single largest user of oil -- the U.S. Department of Defense. This development also has numerous applications for private, commercial use.

Utah Developments in Renewable Energy and Efficiency

Numerous other public and private organizations are involved in energy efficiency and renewable energy development, as well. For example:

-- Last December Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon unveiled a plan to install power-generating solar panels on the roofs of more than 50 county buildings. The plan will replace 25 to 30 percent of Salt Lake County's current energy needs -- "enough to power a small city," he said at the time.

-- the Tooele County Commission is considering a proposal by Colorado-based Kingston Energy Development for a multi-million-dollar waste-to-energy facility to be constructed at Fassio Egg Farms in Erda, which would turn tons of stinky chicken manure into natural gas, renewable diesel fuel or electricity.

-- In 2007 Salt Lake City was designated one of 13 "Solar America Cities" by the U.S. Energy Department in an initiative to jumpstart integration of solar power. Solar America Cities are selected based upon their commitment and comprehensive approach to the deployment of solar technologies and the development of sustainable solar infrastructures.

-- West Valley City is part of a public/private partnership with the Argent Group, working to develop Utah's first LEED certified industrial park. The Layton Companies is the commercial construction contractor, while CB Richard Ellis serves as real estate broker for the project.

-- Provo-based Raser Technologies turned on the first-of-its-kind geothermal plant in Beaver County last November, which generates zero-emissions electricity using water scarcely hotter than a cup of coffee. The Utah facility will provide power to Disneyland and thousands of homes in Anaheim, California.

-- Spanish Fork is home to Utah's first commercial wind farm, which was co-developed by Wasatch Wind, a Heber City-based company, and Edison Mission Energy, a subsidiary of Edison International, headquartered in Rosemead, California. Spanish Fork provided a financial incentive to give the project a boost on its financing. Edison Mission Energy has a 20-year contract to sell its power to Rocky Mountain Power. (A recent study by Utah State University and the U.S. Department of Energy praised the wind farm for pumping more than $4 million in economic output into the state during its construction, supporting 38 jobs and a total payroll of almost $1.4 million.)

-- Wasatch Wind is currently studying the feasibility of placing a wind farm near the hamlet of New Harmony in Iron County. It could produce more than 100 megawatts of power from 50 wind turbines.

-- First Wind, an independent wind power company, is currently constructing a 203 megawatt Milford Wind Corridor Project near Milford, Utah. The wind farm is expected to be complete in 2009 and with 97 turbines, is the largest such farm to date.

-- St. George City/Dixie Escalante Electricity recently celebrated the opening of its "SunSmart" solar farm, which provides residents the option to buy into a one-kilowatt unit on the local solar grid. One unit would meet approximately 15 percent of a home's monthly energy needs.

-- Green buildings: there are only 50 LEED Platinum Certified buildings in the nation and Utah is home to two of them. The Swaner Eco Center near Park City and Kennecott Land's Corporate Center in Daybreak are both LEED Platinum Certified buildings.
What's more, corporate citizens like Proctor & Gamble (P&G) are going green. P&G is building a state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly manufacturing plant in Box Elder County, and at least three of Utah's major commercial construction companies (Big-D Construction, Jacobsen Construction and The Layton Companies) all have LEED certified professionals on staff.