Clean energy news: October 2023
SRP board approves system plan strategies to bring customers affordable, reliable and sustainable power
SRP’s District Board of Directors approved power system strategies to be implemented between 2025 and 2035 that prioritize affordability, reliability, sustainability and customer focus. The strategies are outlined in SRP’s new Integrated System Plan, which was developed as part of a two-year, data-driven planning process that incorporated perspectives from Arizona universities, businesses, environmental organizations, limited income advocates, nonprofits and more. Read more >>
KORE Power selects Siemens Xcelerator to optimize production at Arizona gigafactory
Siemens announced that KORE Power, Inc., the leading U.S.-based developer of battery cell technology for the clean energy and e-mobility industries, has selected advanced manufacturing software and hardware from the Siemens Xcelerator open business platform for the KOREPlex. This new 1,330,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing facility in Arizona will use multiple production lines to produce batteries for electric vehicles (EV) and energy storage systems. Read more >>
Federal Funding Jump-Starts EV Charging Stations in Northern Arizona
New federal funding is expected to soon make driving an electric vehicle in Northern Arizona less precarious. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program will fund $76.5 million to establish a reliable network of Level 3 fast-charging stations along the state’s interstates and highways. The funding is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill passed by Congress in 2021. Read more >>
ADEQ offers $1 million in recycling grants after program’s 10-year hiatus
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is restarting its recycling grant program, after a decade-long hiatus. In a press release, ADEQ said it will grant more than $1 million in an effort to reduce waste, educate about waste reduction and conduct recycling research. Read more >>
Gilbert Partners with Local First Arizona to Certify Green Businesses
The Town of Gilbert is teaming up with Local First Arizona to promote sustainability efforts among Gilbert-based businesses and nonprofits. This collaboration aims to encourage these organizations to reduce their water and energy consumption, minimize solid waste generation, and adopt best management practices for stormwater management. Read more >>
Harnessing Arizona’s sun: The future of solar-powered smart homes
Arizona, known for its abundant sunshine, is an ideal location for residents to embrace the benefits of solar power. Over the years, Arizona has risen as a frontrunner in solar energy adoption. This significant progress can be credited to strategic initiatives such as the implementation of the Renewable Energy Standard and the introduction of a solar sales tax break during the early 2000s. Read more >>
Chamber Partnership to Add Electric Vehicle Chargers in Glendale and Surrounding Areas
EOS Linx, an owner, and operator of a growing national, solar-supported electric vehicle (EV) charging network, is partnering with the Glendale Chamber of Commerce to provide public EV charging in Glendale, Arizona through the installation and operation of Level 2 (L2) EV chargers in residential, fleet, public parks, and retail + Corporate locations. The EOS L2 chargers will provide drivers with various options to meet individual charging needs. Read more >>
Keeping Arizona’s Semiconductor Industry Sustainable
In the United States, there is a significant annual disposal of more than a million tons of chemical waste, primarily in landfills or through incineration. The increasing demand for microchips, which has tripled in the last decade, exacerbates this issue. As a result, there’s a growing concern about both the environmental impact and the scarcity of chemicals required for chip manufacturing. One local Arizona company, Purity ReSource, addresses this challenge by advancing purification and separation technologies for chemical recovery, reprocessing and reuse. Read more >>
Turning Poop Into Power: Buckeye’s Butterfield Dairy gets an eco-conscious upgrade
As we become more attune to the negative effects of methane gas produced by dairy farms around the globe, technology to capture methane gas and convert it into a useful byproduct is becoming more imperative. Methane is second only to CO2 emissions from fossil fuels as a cause of global warming. Southwest Gas, along with partners like Nacelle Solutions, Avolta Development, and DVO, are working together with eco-conscious dairy farmers across Arizona to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and produce renewable natural gas for use in households, vehicles, and more. Read more >>
City of Phoenix to start turning wastewater to drinking water using advance technology
Phoenix is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, and as more people move here, the city wants to make sure our water source doesn’t run dry. Last week, Phoenix City Council approved $30 million for construction to reopen its Cave Creek water reclamation plant. The facility was closed for nearly 14 years. “The growth that we anticipated happening stopped because of the economic recession of the late 2006, 7, and 8 time period,” said Nazario Prieto, the water services assistant director at the city of Phoenix. Read more >>
Solar energy users seek fair buyback rates from Arizona Corporation Commission
The Arizona Corporation Commission met on Wednesday and voted 3-2 to review the state’s buyback rates for solar rooftop energy. Those incentives deal with users with extra energy; they then can export that power to the grid and get credit for their energy bill. In 2017, the commission made a policy where utility companies could cut the credit solar homeowners would get by 10% every year for ten years. Ahead of the meeting, hundreds of residents were worried the commission wanted to change the policy for more significant cuts, and current solar users would be included in that change. Read more >>
Arizona university researchers work to find new uses for copper tailings
Researchers at Arizona’s public universities are working with the state mine inspector and the mining community to discover novel ways to use leftover waste rock from copper mining, the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) recently announced. A $3.6 million grant awarded by ABOR is allowing researchers to pursue the project. The grant, known as the Regents’ Research Grant, pairs public university researchers with state agencies and community organizations to address long-term challenges facing the state of Arizona. Read more >>
Phoenix-Based Solar Co. Launches New AI-Powered Home Energy Assessment Tool
SOAR Energy, the solar company powered by Better Earth, announced the launch of SolarScan, its artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) powered home energy assessment tool for homeowners and solar contractors to analyze properties and receive a curated report on potential savings and power generation. Read more >>
Amphenol to start solar panel junction box production in Arizona before year’s end
The solar panel subcomponent manufacturing market is heating up in the United States. In addition to more backsheets, EVA sheets and glass being made in America, solar panel makers will soon be able to use Made-in-USA junction boxes in their final product, thanks to Amphenol Industrial Operations. Amphenol Industrial Operations (AIO), a business unit of Amphenol Corporation, is a leader in interconnect systems for harsh environment applications. The business unit intends to open a 58,000-sq.-ft factory in Mesa, Arizona, to make junction boxes and their associated connectors for both thin-film and silicon solar panel designs. Read more >>
Solar Power Shines Bright in Goodyear, AZ with Residential Solar Panel Installations
In a bid to embrace a greener and more sustainable future, residents of Goodyear, Arizona, are turning their attention to solar power. Residential solar panel installations have become increasingly popular in this sunny city, ushering in a new era of energy efficiency and cost savings. As the demand for residential solar solutions soars, Goodyear is also seeing a surge in other eco-friendly home improvements such as HVAC installation and spray foam insulation. Odin Energy AZ is at the forefront of these energy-saving initiatives. Read more >>
Biden-Harris Administration Announces $3.5 Billion for Largest Ever Investment in America’s Electric Grid, Deploying More Clean Energy, Lowering Costs, and Creating Union Jobs
As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics, White House Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator Mitch Landrieu and Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm today announced $3.46 billion for 58 projects across 44 states to strengthen electric grid resilience and reliability across America. Funded by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, these projects will leverage more than $8 billion in federal and private investments to deliver affordable, clean electricity to all Americans and ensure that communities across the nation have a reliable grid that is prepared for extreme weather worsened by the climate crisis. Read more >>
SRP honors Queen Creek schools for energy-efficiency efforts
Queen Creek School District 95 has been recognized by Salt River Project as a Champion of Sustainability. The award honors “outstanding achievements in electrification, energy efficiency and clean energy through participation in SRP’s Business Solutions Program,” according to a release. The Queen Creek district serves approximately 14,000 preschool through 12th-grade students at 15 schools. The district joined the SRP Business Demand Response Program and achieved a 1,786-kW reduction in energy use, the release stated. Read more >>
Survey finds Latinos care deeply about the environment
A 2021 survey by Pew Research Center shows Latinos have greater concerns about harm being done by environmental issues than other communities. We talked with Ylenia Aguilar, who sits on the Board of Directors for Central Arizona Water Conservation District, about environmental concerns of Hispanics and participation by Hispanics in solving these problems. Also in on the discussion: Nuvia Enriquez, the Communications Director for Chispa Arizona, a League of Conservation Voters. Read more >>
Million dollars to support new Flagstaff climate change resilience hubs, senators announce
A million dollars is heading to Flagstaff to support climate change adaptation efforts, Arizona Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly announced Wednesday. The money, flowing in from the Inflation Reduction Act, will go to support three new community-led resilience hubs that work to increase emergency preparedness through safe heating, cooling and clean-air centers. Read more >>
American Battery Factory Breaks Ground on Largest U.S. Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Cell Gigafactory
American Battery Factory (ABF), an emerging battery manufacturer leading the development of the first network of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cell gigafactories in the United States, today broke ground on a two million square foot gigafactory located in Tucson, Arizona. The site will provide an estimated 1,000 jobs, $1.2 billion in capital investment and $3.1 billion in economic impact to the state while accelerating the growth of the clean energy economy nationwide. The first phase of construction is expected to be completed by Sprung Instant Structures by 2025 with plans to utilize the region’s high-capacity border and transportation infrastructure to ship battery cells to nearby markets. Read more >>
Arizona electric co-op AEPCO launches solar-plus-storage project with ‘up to’ 940MWh capacity
Arizona Electric Power Cooperative (AEPCO) has received board approval to deploy a solar-plus-storage project with up to 940MWh of capacity, after two smaller co-operatives completed smaller co-located projects in the state. Read more >>