Good plan for a community that needs to do this, and though it is quite a bit more costly, the area is becoming a high-end getaway with revenue that can pay for it.
Daniel Weintraub: Truckee, once looking to coal, is about to go green
By Daniel Weintraub -
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, September 27, 2007
When the little town of Truckee near the Sierra crest was on the verge a year ago of signing a 50-year contract to buy electricity from a coal-fired plant in Utah, the plan drew national attention -- and criticism.
California had just passed two groundbreaking laws to fight global warming by limiting greenhouse gas emissions, including one measure intended to ban just the kind of coal-based deal the Truckee utility was about to sign. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and thousands of others weighed in against the contract, and the Truckee Donner Public Utility District backed away from it.
Last week, the district quietly moved forward with its alternative plan: a sweeping vision to convert its electricity portfolio from one dependent on coal to a much more diverse collection of sources. The new power package, officials say, will at minimum get 21 percent of its juice from renewable sources, and possibly as much as 49 percent by 2009.
