Obama Administration officials released a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by nine Federal Departments and Agencies to make it faster and simpler to build transmission lines on Federal lands. The goal of the agreement is to speed approval of new transmission lines, reduce expense and uncertainty in the process, generate cost savings, increase accessibility to renewable energy and jumpstart job creation. As President Obama announced, the agreement  aims to "help break down the bureaucratic barriers that currently make it slow and costly to build new transmission lines on federal lands."

The national mandate to use solar electricity combined with policies to support new electric grid transmission projects and a "green bank" to finance renewable energy projects are on the wish list of the solar industry for the climate change legislation, said Rhone Resch, executive director of the Solar Energy Industries Association.  Speaking at the Solar Power International conference in Anaheim, a conference SEIA co-organized, Resch outlined his lobbying goals while extolling his roughly 1,000 members to pony up.

Executives from solar power companies see clearer skies in 2010 for the industry, even as quarterly reports from companies such as First Solar and SunPower have disappointed.  The industry has struggled to emerge this year from tight credit markets, a global glut of panels and falling prices.  The industry, which grew at a clip of more than 40% for several years, has suffered in the recession, but solar companies kept a bullish attitude on growth next year.  Executives cited various forces that could drive growth in 2010, including U.S. stimulus funds for green projects, extended tax incentives and new financing.

A report released by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) examines the long-term economic impacts of cap-and-trade legislation.  The report says it demonstrates how climate legislation encourages energy-saving investments, will create millions of jobs and save U.S. consumers billions on monthly energy bills.  The study offers a look at climate legislation as U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman, Senator Barbara Boxer, introduces her new climate bill and hosts a week of hearings.

The CEO of Valero Energy Corp. warned that the Senate climate legislation would give a competitive advantage to foreign refiners and cost U.S. jobs.  Addressing the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Valero's Bill Klesse alleged that the Senate bill and its House counterpart would create large new costs that would drive domestic gasoline and diesel production offshore, cause job loss, and reduce U.S. energy security.  He spoke on behalf of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, the industry's main trade group.

The Department of Energy announced funding for 37 research projects -- including some that could allow intermittent energy sources like wind and solar to provide a steady flow of power, or use bacteria to produce automotive fuel from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide.  The $151 million in funding is being awarded through the Department's recently-formed Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy ("ARPA-E").  The grants will go to projects with lead researchers in 17 states. Of the lead recipients, 43% are small businesses, 35% are educational institutions, and 19% are large corporations.

Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced up to $338 million in Recovery Act funding for the exploration and development of new geothermal fields and research into advanced geothermal technologies.  The grants will support 123 projects in 39 states, with recipients including private industry, academic institutions, tribal entities, local governments, and DOE’s National Laboratories.  The grants will be matched more than one-for-one with an additional $353 million in private and non-Federal cost-share funds.  These grants are directed towards identifying and developing new geothermal fields and reducing the upfront risk associated with geothermal development through exploration and drilling projects and data development and collection.

President Obama announced $3.4 billion in grants for "smart meters," updated transformers, and other devices that he called the largest energy grid modernization investment in the nation's history.  The federal money will pay for a broad range of technologies aimed at making the nation's power transmission system more efficient, reliable and adaptable to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.  The grants have been awarded to 100 different utilities and other businesses, cities, which in turn have promised to spend another $4.7 billion in private money on the so-called "smart grid."

How and when the winds blow are increasingly critical issues for operators of the nation's electricity grid, concludes a new 10-year assessment of regional outlooks for renewable energy.  The questions already matter to the energy companies, funds and speculators that trade more than $500 billion in over-the-counter electricity contracts annually.  The North American Electric Reliability Corp. released its annual assessment of the long-term vulnerabilities of its eight regional grid organizations and asked them to consider a scenario with 15% of electricity output coming from renewable generation -- primarily wind.  Meeting the 15% target for renewable electricity output by 2018 would require more than 95,000 megawatts of new wind and solar generating capacity, or nearly one-quarter of all power plant capacity, NERC said.

The West’s water wars are likely to intensify with Pacific Gas and Electric’s announcement that it would buy 500 megawatts of electricity from two solar power plant projects to be built in the California desert.  With 35 big solar farm projects undergoing licensing or planned for arid regions of California alone, water is emerging as a contentious issue.  Solar trough developers prefer to use so-called wet cooling in which water must constantly be replenished to make up for evaporation.  Regulators, meanwhile, are pushing developers to use dry cooling, which takes about 90% less water but is more expensive and reduces the efficiency –- and profitability – of a power plant.

By floating photovoltaic panels in a shallow, round pool, Pyron Solar of Sorrento Valley says it will be able to reliably point them directly at the sun and keep them cool enough to operate efficiently.  Once technicians finish installing the panels, the 45-foot-wide pool will produce 22 kilowatts to go directly onto the grid, officials said.  Engineers will track the system's output for 18 months to make sure it works as expected.  SDG&E is supporting the effort by providing the land and taking the power.  The utility promoted the test as part of its efforts to encourage development of clean power technologies.