Fresno solar plant sits idle during energy price hikes

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Fresno solar plant sits idle during energy price hikes Filed: 11/30/2000

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A working solar energy plant, built in part with taxpayer money, has sat idle in Fresno for four years despite talk of energy bills expected to skyrocket this winter.

KSEE-TV in Fresno reported Wednesday that Pacific Gas and Electric Company closed the solar plant without telling the public in 1996 after only three years of use. PG&E spent $5 million along with $1 million of taxpayer dollars to build the solar plant, which was the first of its kind in the farm-rich San Joaquin Valley.

PG&E officials said the plant costs just under $20,000 a year to maintain, and it can produce enough electricity to power hundreds of Fresno-area homes. Officials said they decided to close the plant after deregulation forced PG&E out of the power producing market.

It's a waste of potential energy, especially with rising energy prices, said Walt Loscutoff, a solar power expert at Fresno State University.

PG&E announced earlier this week that the average residential bill in December will be about 65 percent higher than for the same month last year. The company has previously predicted a 50 percent rise.

"They already have the distribution lines," Loscutoff said. "Everything's set up. All you have to do is come in and turn it on and you generate electricity."

If PG&E doesn't want to run it, Loscutoff said, someone else should.

The company told KSEE-TV it plans to sell the plant.

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), November 30, 2000


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