Imagine if Salt Lake City, Denver, Las Vegas, Boise, Reno and Phoenix were all connected by high speed trains traveling 300 miles per hour. Such imaginings might one day become a reality and the place to learn more about the possibilities is a free luncheon at 11:30 a.m. this Thursday, April 22, in the Zions Bank Founders Room, 18th floor, Zions Bank building, on the corner of Main and South Temple in Salt Lake City.

Although the event is free, seating is limited, so if you are interested in attending please RSVP now to Rachel at (801) 537-0900 or email reception@exoro.com.

Some of the nation's top experts in public transit and high speed rail will be on hand during the luncheon, where they will discuss the latest developments in public transit and high speed rail in the United States and across the world. Noted experts attending include Bill Millar, president of the American Public Transit Association; Peter Gertler, high speed rail services chair for HNTB Corp.; and David Carol, who leads high speed rail services for Parsons Brinkerhoff. Members of the Western High Speed Rail Alliance will also be there.

The Chamber's transportation committee is sponsoring the event with support from HNTB Corp. and Parsons Brinkerhoff.

While high speed rail is still many years way for most Intermountain West cities, the Salt Lake Chamber's transportation committee believes the time to start the discussion is now. The expansion of Utah's public transit system is essential to the economic viability of the state, especially in terms of mobility for our growing population and the need to improve our air quality by reducing the number of cars on the road. We commend the Salt Lake Chamber for taking a leading role in bringing this important topic to our view.

Today's Economic Review also includes links to many of the ED-related news stories from the past week. As always, if you have comments, suggestions or topics you'd like to see in the Economic Review, please contact us by clicking the "Comments" link on the bottom of this page. Enjoy!

Jeff Edwards
President and CEO

Every other month a group of officials from the U.S. military installations in Utah gather at an unlikely location: The Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED).

The purpose of the gatherings isn't to talk about business development, materiel commands, war efforts, or logistics, but rather to collaborate on activities in renewable energy. Called the "Military Installation Energy Collaborative" (MIEC), the group was organized by Samantha Mary Julian, GOED's energy and natural resources cluster director, and is comprised of representatives from Hill Air Force Base, Dugway Proving Ground, Tooele Army Depot, Camp Williams, and the Utah Division of Management and Construction, which maintains all Utah National Guard facilities and properties.

"The U.S. military installations in Utah have the money and the mandate to develop alternative energy and they are really serious about it," says Julian. "The military wants its installations to be able to function off of the electrical grid if there is an emergency, and renewable energy can help accomplish that reality."

Progressive Efforts
The organization and activity of MIEC is just one example of numerous progressive efforts in Utah to expand renewable energy development and use.

Julian says Hill Air Force Base is leading the effort in renewable energy activity among Utah military installations. The base has plans to expand both its current solar park and co-generation facilities, and is looking into the development of geothermal energy resources. Energy efficiency measures in electricity usage and transportation fuels are also a major focus for the installation.

Tooele Army Depot, on the other hand, has invested in wind energy, solar power, and water conservation. A wind turbine project at the Depot should be operational by July 1 and will be a demonstration project to lead the way for other Army US installations. It is anticipated to produce 1.5 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power 300 to 400 homes and translates to $125,000 in annual savings. The Depot has also installed solar walls at eight of its high-energy-use buildings, with an anticipated savings of $22,370 per year in electricity.

Dugway Proving Ground is in the midst of considering green solutions for electrical generation, transmission and storage facilities.

Meanwhile, at Camp Williams the Utah National Guard has partnered with Rocky Mountain Power to produce wind energy at the Point of the Mountain between Salt Lake and Utah Counties.

"There is a lot going on at our military installations," says Julian. "The participants in MIEC are educating themselves and becoming more aware of what the other installations are doing. They are also hopeful that the communities around them will see what is taking place in renewable energy and energy efficiency at the installations and not only support it, but also want to be a part of it."

In addition to their bi-monthly meetings, MIEC members plan to meet once each year with Utah's legislators and also once each year with leaders from the communities near the installations.

UGREEN
The Utah Generated Renewable Energy Electricity Network Authority, (UGREEN)," is another progressive effort to promote the development of renewable energy in Utah. Julian says UGREEN is actually a newly created independent state agency with a board comprised of representatives from Rocky Mountain Power, the State Institutional Trust Lands (SITLA), the Governor's Office of Economic Development, REDCO (Renewable Energy Development Corp.), Raser Technologies (a developer of geothermal energy), Deseret Power, and Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS).

The purpose of UGREEN is to help facilitate efforts to bring renewable power to the grid. Julian says the cost of developing the transmission infrastructure is the number one barrier to major, utility scale renewable energy development projects.

"The UGREEN board will evaluate transmission projects and perform due diligence" says Julian, "UGREEN has bonding authority to help developers finance transmission lines at a reasonable rate."

UGREEN was created in 2009 by Senate Bill 76. GOED Executive Director Spencer P. Eccles serves as chairman, and Yashoda Khandkar, was recently hired to serve as UGREEN's Special Advisor.

WINDPOWER Conference
In addition to her many other efforts to support renewable energy development, next month Julian will join EDCUtah Director of Proactive Recruitment Michael Flynn in Dallas for the 2010 WINDPOWER Conference and Exposition, where they will actively recruit renewable energy companies and meet with site consultants.

Julian says her participation in last year's expo was more of an effort to gauge the landscape; however, this year she and Flynn will be working the show floor in a well organized, aggressive recruitment effort.

"We want to recruit the companies that manufacture products vital to the wind energy industry and meet with the site consultants that are focused on these companies," she adds. "We are setting up our appointments now and hope to have a full slate of meetings scheduled before we go."

Julian notes that GOED and EDCUtah also plan to host a reception at EDCUtah's office for the Utah companies and government agencies that will be attending the WINDPOWER Conference. The 2009 WINDPOWER Conference drew a record crowd of over 23,000 participants and nearly 1,300 exhibitors and the 2010 event is expected to be just as big.