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Boulder council leases last piece of 8,000 acres for solar energy
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Feb. 15, 2012 | 8:16 a.m.
The Boulder City Council on Tuesday agreed to lease the last 884 acres out of about 8,000 acres it had set aside for solar energy development.
Korean Western Power, or KOWEPO, prevailed over five other companies to get the lease. The company will build a solar energy generating plant with a capacity of up to 120 megawatts using photovoltaic solar panels.
In return, the city each year will receive $2,100 per acre, plus a $605 royalty payment per acre, for the 50-year life of the lease, said City Manager Vicki Mayes. The city chose the royalty payments over an offer from KOWEPO to build it a 1.5 megawatt power station.
Kowepo also will pay the city $3.5 million during the construction phase.
Jack Dangelo of DMP Energy, a partner with KOWEPO, told council members work would begin immediately.
"This is the last area to lease for solar," said Mayor Roger Tobler. "We knew the timing was right. This was a goal of staff and the City Council for many years."
KOWEPO produces about 12 percent of the electricity in Korea. The Boulder City project, which is home to several solar operations already established or in the planning stage, is its first in the U.S.
Dangelo said the plant will be "up and running" in about 33 months.
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We are free to move to any other state that has cheaper electricity costs. Yes we are free...
Well to Obama his shovel ready jobs remember those that cost us a trillion dollars. Is simply shoveling green tax dollars into his bundlers bank accounts. He wants to cripple America because his Father hated America.
In a truly free country, I would invest my seven figure retirement into a coal plant along with a dozen other lawyers/investors and deliver electricity to costumers at 1/9th the cost of solar and become very rich. KOWEPO would either have to find a way to generate electricity cheaper or go out of business. This probably can't happen for thousands of reasons right now in the United States; Leary Energy cancelled a coal plant near Ely based on Obama's promise to put every coal plant out of business. Are we really free? Kermitt Waters can't put a windmill up in his yard, so he has to pay the power rates if he wants to use electricity. We have no choice except to buy electricity from the thieves at Nevada Power. We cut our usage, they raise our rates. Are we really free? I don't think we are anymore.
And how will this power generating facility pay for it's Lease Payments, and Profits? Simple. Raise consumers Electric Utility Rates. Rates will NOT be going down. Only up. With a GREEN FEE Surcharge for adding Solar Electricity to the Grid. Thank Obama.
PS what about a cowboy poetry book?
Boulder City: QUICK donate a couple million to Obama's re-election then you're eligible for a half billion dollar non payable loan. What are you waiting for hurry. That's a 498 billion dollar profit maybe more if we can get Harry to throw in a pomegrante or two.