State Land Commissioner Maria Baier and BLM State Director Jim Kenna offered some opening figures on Arizona's electric power status. Arizona's electric capacity was 25,861 megawatts in 2008. To meet the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard of 15% of electricity from renewable energy, we need about 4,000 megawatts from solar, wind, geothermal, and biofuels. To date, there are applications for about 2,500 megawatts of renewable energy projects in Arizona.
Jim raised the questions that governments are dealing with, of where do we put these projects, and how do we manage the process in making these decisions.