I think they may do this in Europe, where they are also placing solar arrays in the bermed right-of-way of their rail and highway corridors to take advantage of that linear public space for energy production. Gay
On Sun, Aug 2, 2009 at 9:28 AM, George Frantz <[email protected]> wrote: > I came across the following editorial from the Towanda PA, Sunday Review. > Anybody else hear of utilities turning their transmission lines into energy > sources through use of small scale solar electric panels? > George Frantz > > Editorial > > > function printDialogWidget(){ if (window.print) { window.print(); > } else { var WebBrowser = > '';document.body.insertAdjacentHTML('beforeEnd', > WebBrowser);WebBrowser1.ExecWB(6, 2);WebBrowser1.outerHTML = ""; }}if > (parseInt(navigator.appVersion) > 3) { document.write('');} > > > Northeast Pennsylvania power-line project has solar power lesson > > > > Published: Sunday, August 2, 2009 3:10 AM EDT > As an electric utility’s continued effort to impose a massive 100-mile > transmission line through Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wayne and Pike counties in > northeast Pennsylavania in order to deliver power somewhere else, a New > Jersey utility has begun to demonstrate the potential for locally generated > power. > > Although the PPL construction project does not directly affect Bradford and > Sullivan counties geography, the lessons to be learned from the alternatives > will be of benefit to all. > > Public Service Electric & Gas Co., New Jersey’s largest utility, plans to > install electricity-generating solar panels on 200,000 utility poles within > its service territory. The project, approved last week by the New Jersey > Board of Public Utilities, will make the Garden State second only to > California in generation of solar power. > > The company will spend about $515 million to establish 80 megawatts of > generating power by 2013 — half from the pole-mounted panels and half from > larger arrays that it will establish at some of its properties. In all, the > project will produce enough power for about 80,000 homes. The project will > raise rates by 10 cents per month, per customer. > > One of the great advantages of the system is the power will be placed > directly on the existing power grid. It will not have to be transmitted from > a distant power plant. Each pole-mounted unit includes a device that > converts the direct current produced by the solar cells into alternating > current that can be added to the grid, pole by pole. > > Reliance on long-range transmission is one of the major problems regarding > energy. It is the cause of the PPL transmission line project. And the lack > of an adequate grid recently was cited by Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens as > the key reason for his postponement of building the world’s largest wind > farm project on the Texas plains. > > The New Jersey project also demonstrates the potential of alternative > energy to help drive economic development. Petra Solar Inc., of South > Plainfield, N.J., has the $200 million contract for the solar units. It > plans to triple its existing work force by adding 100 full-time jobs. > > Pennsylvania, like New Jersey, has imposed targets on utilities for > alternative energy generation. State lawmakers and regulators should > encourage Pennsylvania utilities, including First Energy and its subsidiary > Penelec, which serves our area, to come up with innovative ideas, like the > New Jersey project, not just to meet those goals but to reduce reliance on > burdensome long-distance transmission. > > > > > Copyright © 2009 - The Daily and Sunday Review > > > > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, > please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > Questions about the list? ask > [email protected] > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > -- ---------------------------------------------------- Gay Nicholson, Ph.D. President Sustainable Tompkins 109 S. Albany St. Ithaca, NY 14850 www.sustainabletompkins.org 607-533-7312 (home office) 607-220-8991 (cell) [email protected] _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins Questions about the list? ask [email protected] free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
