Executive Branch Creates Renewable Energy Task Force

None by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) Governor Jon Huntsman's Energy Advisor is creating a task force to study the state's renewable energy resources, though the legislature failed to pass such a proposal earlier this year. Dianne Nielson says Utah needs to tap into solar, wind and geothermal power, but there's a problem.

"They come in small packages of energy, not large packages like more conventional resources," Nielson says. "One of the ways we can address that problem is to identify zones where we have more than one energy resource."

The Renewable Energy Zone Task Force would first map the state's energy resources, then organize them into development zones. For instance, one zone could have both wind and solar resources. Nielson says this zone-approach will help target new transmission lines, bundle capacity and get renewable energy onto the grid more efficiently. While a proposal to create a similar Legislative task force never made it out of the Senate, Nielson says she believes the study should be conducted anyway. The state's voters and businesses are embracing the idea that providing adequate, clean energy will promote economic development in the state.

"And I expect that we are going to see broad support, including through the legislature, to adopt programs that will encourage and support that sort of development," Nielson says.

She will address the Legislature's Public Utility and Technology Interim Committee Wednesday. Nielson says she will update lawmakers about the goals of the executive branch task force, and seek their input about its scope.

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