Solar power conference highlights differences among candidates in Utah governor’s race

Herbert, Corroon differ on energy development

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s incumbent Republican governor likes fossil fuels. His Democratic challenger prefers solar power.

Their differences on energy, some nuanced, were highlighted Wednesday at the opening of a U.S. Department of Energy conference on solar power in Salt Lake City.

Both Gov. Gary Herbert and Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon support renewable power, but Herbert said he’d leave development to the private sector.

“We’ll let the marketplace solve those problems,” Herbert told reporters, elaborating on a speech that listed coal, oil and gas before any mention of solar, wind or geothermal projects. “Utah is at the forefront of energy development, not only with renewables but traditional fuels.”

Corroon — a Democrat challenging Herbert for the state’s top job — says government has to get more involved in promoting a switch to renewable power and can help drive down the costs of solar panels by advancing projects of its own. He plans to install photovoltaic panels on the roof of the Salt Palace convention hall and other county buildings.

“It’s just the beginning” of a shift in the country’s energy priorities, he said.

Herbert and Corroon shared the podium at Wednesday’s opening of the four-day conference. Officials and mayors of more than 25 U.S. cities are among those in Salt Lake City for the third Solar America Cities tour, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and industry players.

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker faulted Herbert for vetoing a bill passed by the Utah Legislature that would have allowed Utah’s utility to wirelessly turn off home air conditioners during peak loads. The bill would have let Rocky Mountain Power install a power-saving device at homes unless an owner objected; now, owners have to come forward to request the device.

Herbert ordered one of the devices for his own house in Orem but said he didn’t want to make the program near-mandatory.

Herbert said he also favors development of untapped oil-shale reserves in the Rocky Mountains. No company has found an economical way to squeeze kerogen, a half-baked form of petroleum, from the hard rock, but the federal government has leased small tracts for experimental work. Critics say widespread oil-shale development would lay waste to parts of Utah, Colorado and Wyoming.

Herbert said new technology can make fossil fuels more environment friendly. He plugged the University of Utah’s Institute for Clean and Secure Energy, an organization of 60 professors and researchers and as many graduate students devoted to the study coal gasification and the development of oil shale, oil sands and biomass.

The University of Utah also is leading a major experiment intended to bury heat-trapping carbon emissions from power plants beneath the ground.

Herbert promoted Utah’s bountiful supplies of clean-burning natural gas. His point was that traditional fuels help secure the nation’s energy security and will be needed during any transition to renewable power.

Corroon promoted less glamorous changes needed for the transition. They include net metering, which allows Utah homeowners to sell excess solar or wind power to the state’s major utility, and third-party ownership of solar panels on people’s homes, meaning they don’t have to pay the cost of installation but can share in the benefits.

But wait. Utah switched state employees to a four-day workweek in August 2008, saving 11 percent on energy by “having buildings go dark or semi-dark” an extra day a week, Herbert bragged.

Others say Herbert’s and Corroon’s differences are a matter of emphasis and that both have something to offer in the race to secure the nation’s energy options.

“The wave is coming,” said Charlie Hemmeline, who heads a market transformation team for the Department of Energy’s Solar Program.

Solar panels “just cost too much” but are moving closer to “that magic crossover point” that will make them economical, he said.

“Our belief is local governments have a strong position” to promote market changes, Hemmeline said. “A lot of cities are just starting from scratch.”