Stimulus Set To Push 7,400 MW Into Construction by End of 2010

Federal stimulus funds will help get 7,400 MW of wind-energy and solar-energy projects ready for construction on public lands by the end of 2010, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told the American Wind Energy Association in Chicago on May 5. About $41 million is earmarked for the effort. The Obama administration also plans renewable-energy coordination offices in Arizona, California, Nevada and Wyoming to complete reviews “on the most ready-to-go projects,” he said. The projects will require new transmission lines to carry electricity to markets, including 1,500 kV of capacity in California, nearly 900 kV in Idaho and 1,000 kV in Nevada, Salazar said, adding that renewable-energy potential on federal lands and in federal waters is “staggering.”