Solar Field Hearing

COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Utility-Scale Solar Power: Opportunities and Obstacles

Monday, March 17, 2008

12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Pima County Administration Building Hearing Room, 1st Floor

130 W. Congress Street, Tucson, Arizona 85701

On Monday, March 17, 2008 the House Committee on Science & Technology, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment held a hearing entitled, “Utility-Scale Solar Power: Opportunities and Obstacles,” at the Pima County Administration Building Hearing Room, Tucson, Arizona.

The Subcommittee’s hearing explored the potential for utility-scale solar power to provide a significant fraction of U.S. electric generating capacity and the challenges to achieving this goal. The specific technologies discussed included solar thermal technology, concentrating photovoltaics and distributed solar power.  Transmission, regulatory and financial issues were also examined, along with a look at the government and private industry roles in the development of utility-scale solar power – and enabling productive partnerships between them.

Click here for the Solar Field Hearing Charter

Click here for the official committee report on the hearing

Listen to the full hearing here (approx. 2 hours)

Congressional Representation

Representative Gabrielle Giffords, Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment presided over the hearing.  Also representing the Science and Technology Committee was a bipartisan panel including:

Representative Bart Gordon (TN), Chairman

Representative Ralph Hall (TX), Ranking Member

[RECORDED OPENING REMARKS] [RECORDED QUESTIONING]

Representative Gabrielle Giffords (AZ)

[RECORDED OPENING REMARKS] [RECORDED QUESTIONING] [RECORDED CLOSING REMARKS]

Representative Daniel Lipinski (IL)

[RECORDED OPENING REMARKS] [RECORDED QUESTIONING]

Representative Jim Matheson (UT)

[RECORDED OPENING REMARKS] [RECORDED QUESTIONING]

Representative Harry Mitchell (AZ)

[RECORDED OPENING REMARKS] [RECORDED QUESTIONING]

Witnesses

The panel of esteemed witnesses included representatives of the public, private, and utility sectors: [RECORDED INTRODUCTION OF WITNESSES]

Mark Mehos, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

[BIO] [WRITTEN TESTIMONY] [RECORDED TESTIMONY] [POWERPOINT]

Tom Hansen, Tucson Electric Power

[BIO] [WRITTEN TESTIMONY] [RECORDED TESTIMONY]

Kate Maracas, Abengoa Solar

[BIO] [WRITTEN TESTIMONY] [RECORDED TESTIMONY]

Barbara Lockwood, Arizona Public Service

[BIO] [WRITTEN TESTIMONY] [RECORDED TESTIMONY]

Valerie Rauluk, Venture Catalyst, Inc.

[BIO] [WRITTEN TESTIMONY] [RECORDED TESTIMONY] [POWERPOINT]

Joe Kastner, MMA Renewable Ventures, LLC

[BIO] [WRITTEN TESTIMONY] [RECORDED TESTIMONY]