April 2011

The Arizona Building and Construction Trades Council
News Update
In This Issue
Deal in hand, heavy lifting ahead for First Solar
DOE Offers Support for Arizona Solar Project
Winslow Private Prison Proposal Is Submitted
County gives Perrin Ranch wind farm the green light
Arizona has one solar project on fast track
NRG to Acquire 290-Megawatt Agua Caliente Solar Project from First Solar
Gestamp Renewables to Build Solar Steel Factory
Intel's new $5 billion plant in Arizona has Obama's blessing
Glendale council votes to keep up fight against casino project
Kirkpatrick to run again

Arizona Building Trades Elected Officials


President: Martin "Buzz" Murphy

Ironworkers 75  

602-268-1449 Ext. 11

[email protected] 

 

Vice President: Dean Wine

IBEW 640

602-264-4506

[email protected]

 

Secretary Treasurer: Gerry Stewart

Sheet Metal 359

602-275-6511

[email protected]

 

Trustee: Lonnie Tinder

Painters 86

602-244-9821

[email protected]

 

Trustee: Tom Hardie

Cement Masons 394

602-252-4278

[email protected]

 

Trustee: Dale Medley

Asbestos Workers 73 

602-225-0435

[email protected]

 

Sgt. at Arms: Randy Storr

Elevator Constructors 140

602-273-0025

[email protected]  



Address:

209 East Baseline Rd. Suite E-102 Tempe, AZ 85283

Contact Us:

480-275-4553

[email protected]

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Arizona Building Trades Members


(Click members to visit their websites)

Arizona Cement Masons, Local 394

Arizona Pipe Trades, Local 469

Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Local 3

Iron Workers, Local 75

Insulators & Asbestos Workers, Local 73

International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Local 627

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 518

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 570

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 640

International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 104

International Union of Elevator Constructors, Local 140

International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 428

International Union of Painters, Local 86

Laborers International Union of North America, Local 383

Road Sprinkler Fitters, Local Union 669

Sheet Metal Workers International Association, Local 359

United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers, Local 135


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News update:


There will be opportunities for union contractors to bid on several major projects coming to Arizona!  The Department of Energy has offered a conditional commitment to Agua Caliente Solar Project, located in Yuma County, which is being acquired by NRG Solar from First Solar.  The Sonoran Solar Project remains on the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's fast track list for development.

There are plans for a solar fabricating plant in southeast Mesa and a steel fabrication factory in Surprise.  As many have seen in many news headlines recently, the Tohono O'odham Nation was given permission by the federal government to create a reservation near Glendale to build a new casino.  However, the project will be on hold due to a Glendale City Council vote to continue to oppose the casino in court.  Finally, Intel will invest billions of dollars in Arizona with its latest fabrication laboratory. 

For more information on these projects and others, please see the articles below.

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First Solar Deal in hand, heavy lifting ahead for First Solar

Mar. 25, 2011

by Gary Nelson

The Arizona Republic

 

By Scott Smith's reckoning, the deal to bring First Solar Inc. to Mesa needed CPR about 10 times before it finally began breathing on its own.

 

Mesa's mayor was heavily involved in the multiparty negotiations that ended last week when the Tempe company announced it would build a $300 million, 600-job solar-panel fabricating plant in southeast Mesa.  

DOE LogoDOE Offers Support for Arizona Solar Project
Mar 22, 2011
altpowerconstruction.com
   

   

The Department of Energy is standing behind solar. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently announced the offer of a conditional commitment to Agua Caliente Solar LLC for a loan guarantee of up to $967 million. The loan guarantee will support the construction of a 290-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) solar generating facility located in Yuma County, Ariz., that will use thin-film solar panels from First Solar Inc. The project sponsor, NRG Solar, estimates the project will be the largest photovoltaic generation facility in the world when it is completed.

 

   Click here to read more     

Winslow Private Prison Proposal Is Submitted
March 16, 2011

By Tammy Gray-Searles

www.azjournal.com

 

Prison Building

A 1,000-bed private prison has been proposed in south Winslow in answer to a request for proposals made by the State of Arizona.

 

La Salle Southwest Corrections Corporation responded to the state bidding process by proposing a facility on Highway 87, just north of the existing state-run prison. The request for proposals is the first step in a process to add 5,000 prison beds across the state.

  

Click here to read more 

County gives Perrin Ranch wind farm the green light

February 15, 2011 

Williams News.com

  

WILLIAMS - After two days of hearings and appeals Feb. 7 and 8, the Coconino County Board of Supervisors approved plans for the development of a wind farm on Perrin Ranch located 13 miles nor th of Williams and west of Highway 64.

  

The Coconino County Planning and Zoning Commission previously approved the project with a unanimous vote Dec. 17.

Wind power  

In a split decision, Supervisors Carl Taylor, Mandy Metzger and Lena Fowler voted to allow the project to move forward while Matt Ryan and Liz Archuleta voted against the project.

 

Click here to read more 

BLM LogoArizona has one solar project on fast track; First Solar still on list

March 11, 2011

by Patrick O'Grady

Phoenix Business Journal

 

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management this week released an updated list of projects it's hoping to fast-track for development. Arizona got one, and a California facility being built by First Solar Inc. also made the list.

 

Several projects that had been lurking on BLM's list and seeking approval already have been green-lighted.

  

Click here to read more 

NRG Energy Logo

NRG to Acquire 290-Megawatt Agua Caliente Solar Project from First Solar

February 24, 2011

LivePR.com

 

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) and First Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) today announced that NRG, through its wholly owned subsidiary, NRG Solar, has agreed to acquire the 290-megawatt (MW) Agua Caliente solar project from First Solar. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2014 and has a 25-year power purchase agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

 

When completed, Agua Caliente is expected to be the largest operational photovoltaic (PV) site in the world.

 

Click here to read more

Gestomp renewables

Gestamp Renewables, a Global Leader in Renewable Energy, to Build Solar Steel Factory and U.S. Solar Steel Headquarters in Arizona

February 26, 2011

(live-PR.com)

 

Gestamp Renewables, part of Corporaci�n Gestamp, announced today that it is building a factory in Surprise, Arizona to support the development of large-scale solar energy projects in the U.S. The facility, to be newly constructed on 27 acres of land in the Skyway Business Park, will house a state-of-the-art steel fabrication factory as well as the U.S. 

 

Click here to read more 

intel_logo

Intel's new $5 billion plant in Arizona has Obama's blessing
March 29, 2011
By Jon Swartz
USA TODAY


CHANDLER, Ariz. - Few people get to step inside a fabrication laboratory, yet here I am in Fab 32 - clad in a bunny suit, looking like an astronaut - shuffling through Intel's $3.5 billion chipmaking facility in the desert.


It's an impressive facility, with multimillion-dollar machines book-ended, side by side, in a glitzy assembly line to convert silicon wafers into microprocessors. Devices with names such as Ion Implanter and Lithography bake, etch, layer and smooth wafers so they can be used in everything from PCs to tablet devices to smartphones.

 

Click here to read more 

Westgate, GlendaleGlendale council votes to keep up fight against casino project
Mar. 24, 2011
by Cecilia Chan
The Arizona Republic
 
The City Council voted 5-2 Tuesday to approve the city's appeal of a court ruling that upheld a federal decision to create an Indian reservation near Glendale, but not without some grumbling by opponents.
 
The city filed the notice of appeal last week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Glendale is challenging U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell's March 3 ruling.

 

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Anne Kirkpatrick headshotKirkpatrick to run again
March 30, 2011
CYNDY COLE
azdailysun.com


It's been a little less than five months since Republican and Doney Park dentist Paul Gosar defeated first-term Flagstaff Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick to win northern Arizona's U.S. House seat.


Kirkpatrick announced Tuesday that she plans to run again on basically the same platform of job creation that she had while in office in 2009 and 2010.


"I still think the economy and bringing jobs to the district is a top priority," she said.


Click here to read more