Solar power could provide bright future

  Although there has been no recent movement on eastern Yuma County's "old" energy project - a proposed oil refinery - there does appear to be interest in a "new" energy project there.

  NextLight Renewable Power LLC has announced plans to build a large solar energy facility near Hyder than could supply power to the equivalent of as many as 100,000 homes for a year.

  It would be built on a couple of thousand acres in the remote area and use a huge array of mirrors to collect sunlight which would then be converted to electricity through a traditional heat transfer process.

  Called the Agua Caliente Solar Project, work on it could begin in about a year and a half, according to company officials. It would mean a significant job boost for Yuma County, especially in the two-year construction phase. Some 1,000 workers would be involved in that phase and 50 workers in the operating phase.

  While there have been concerns expressed about the proposed refinery, there were no protests heard at a public hearing in Dateland last week on the solar project, and there probably won't be considering the remoteness of the area and the fact that this is considered a "clean energy" project.

  We hope the company's plans are successful and the facility becomes a reality. It could serve as a example for other solar projects in our area.

  Certainly, we offer an abundance of one vital resource to make these kinds of projects successful: sunlight. In addition, they require open space, access to water and high-power transmission power lines to move the energy to buyers.

  NextLight selected its site based on a convergence of these factors. It plans to sell its power to energy users in California.

  If this project and others like it - Arizona Public Service is working on a similar facility near Gila Bend - are successful, our county and state could have a bright future in "clean energy" development using sunlight.