Arizona Building Trades Council News Update

It was last October when Sempra Generation first announced it had entered into a 20-year power-purchase agreement with Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to sell 150 megawatts of solar power produced at its Mesquite Solar 1 project in Arizona. That contract was subject to approval by the California Public Utilities Commission, however, so construction has been on hold It's been about a six month wait but now, according to Sempra, the contract has been approved and the company is ready to move forward with construction.

At this time, Sempra expects to begin construction on the fist phase of the Mesquite complex in June. During peak construction, the project is expected to generate about 300 jobs. Presently the facility is slated to be completed in 2013.

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Appeals court rules for Tohono O'odham in casino battle
May 3, 2011
Phoenix Business Journal - by Mike Sunnucks

The Tohono O'odham Nation has won another round in its legal and political fight with the city of Glendale over the tribe's plans to build a casino near University of Phoenix Stadium and Jobing.com Arena.

The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the O'odham contention that all of the land it owns at 95th and Northern avenues is on unincorporated land. That reverses a lower state court ruling that said Glendale had annexed 45 acres of the 135-acre parcel in 2002.

The state appeals court disagreed, ruling that Glendale had not annexed the land.

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La Paz County solar projects move forward
May 5, 2011
parkerliveonline.com

There are currently at least two big solar power projects in development in La Paz County. One, involving mirrors directing sunlight toward a 653-foot tower, is at the application stage to the Bureau of Land Management for rights to build and maintain the facility (100 megawatts).

The other, which would involve a 4 square-mile greenhouse directing heat toward a 2400-foot concrete chimney, is now moving forward with 'call options' for the purchase of the facility from the Southern California Public Power Authority on behalf of the cities of Anaheim, Azusa, Banning, Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, and Riverside (200 megawatts).

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Solar plant proposal draws concerns
May 10, 2011
San Pedro Valley News-Sun

Despite objections from members of the public, the city's planning and zoning commission recommended a zoning change during its May 3 meeting that could, if approved by the Benson City Council on May 23, pave the way for a massive solar plant and data center south of Benson.

The commission's rezoning recommendation involves four sections of land belonging to Ernie Graves, who introduced himself as a representative of Whetstone Partners LLC. If approved by the City, the rezoning will change the four parcels from the current residential (R-1 and R-3) use to light industrial.

The property, located south of the developments on the east side of State Route 90, is accessed by turning east on Post Road, a dirt road between mile markers 294 and 295 off 90.

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Wind farm takes shape on Route 66 southeast of Kingman
May 10, 2011
Kingman Daily Miner

KINGMAN - Rapid progress is being made on the first wind farm in the Kingman area. Western Wind Energy Corporation started putting up the support columns for five 350-foot tall wind turbines and 500-megawatt solar panels on more than 800 acres behind Nucor Steel on Route 66, southeast of Kingman last week. The tall columns can be seen from the top of El Trovatore Hill.

The $24 million project is one of a few projects in the United States that combines both solar and wind energy, said Mike Boyd, executive vice president of development for Western Wind Energy. It is the second wind project to be built in the Arizona. The first is in the Snowflake area.

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Plans for Golden Valley solar plant move forward
May 12, 2011
www.kingmandailyminer.com

KINGMAN - The Mohave County Planning and Zoning Commission approved a new solar plant near Black Mountain Generating Station in Golden Valley Wednesday.

The request came from Tucson-based Solon, Inc. The 15-megawatt plant would be built on Yuma Road in Golden Valley south of Black Mountain Generating Power Plant and southeast of the Arizona State Prison.

According to information provided to the commission, the plant will be built in phases with the first phase consisting of 21,000 modules built on 32 acres that will generate 5-megawatts of power. The power will be put on the local grid through a UniSource power line. It is expected to take between three to four months of construction to build the plant, and Solon has pledged to use local labor.

The item will go before the Board of Supervisors in June.

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$100M TMC expansion features 4-story building
May 13, 2011
Arizona Daily Star

There's more construction on the way at Tucson Medical Center as the city's largest hospital moves forward with a new four-story building and a 632-space parking garage.

The two projects amount to $100 million and will be built on the west side of the campus near the emergency room entrance. Construction is expected to begin in the next few weeks.

The parking garage is set to be finished by February, and the 80-foot-tall, four-story building with operating rooms and private patient beds is due to be finished by the spring of 2013, said Richard Prevallet, TMC's vice president of facilities and construction.

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AEA Planning Lawsuit Over 'Paycheck Protection' Bill
May 16, 2011
Yellow Sheets

The AEA is gearing up for a possible lawsuit against Laws 2011, Chapter 251 (S1365: paycheck deductions; political purposes), which prohibits unions from automatically deducting money from members' paychecks to be used for "political purposes." AEA President Andrew Morrill told our reporter today that the legislation was nothing more than an attempt to put additional roadblocks in the teachers union's way by requiring members to give annual reauthorization for the automatically deducted money to be used for political purposes. He called the bill a "really disturbing attack on public sector employees" and said the AEA is very transparent in the way it uses members' dues - far more transparent than the Legislature, he said. State law already prohibits unions from using automatic dues to support candidates or ballot measures, and Morrill said the union has PACs set up for those purposes.

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Phoenix Indian Medical Center undergoing renovations
May. 20, 2011
The Arizona Republic

Renovations at Phoenix Indian Medical Center began this week, affecting some patient and surgery-related services.

The $8.2 million project, dubbed "Operation Eagle Rebirth," includes upgrades to the facility's electrical infrastructure, the central equipment sterilizer and air handler units. The project is being funded by federal stimulus money.

John Molina, the center's CEO, said the 127-bed hospital desperately needs the improvements to continue to offer quality care to thousands of eligible members of 40 federally recognized tribes in Arizona, Utah and Nevada. An obstetrician, Molina's four children were born at the medical center.

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City pledges $14 million for Arizona Cancer Center clinic in Phoenix
May 23, 2011

Flinn Foundation

The University of Arizona and the City of Phoenix have reached an agreement to build an Arizona Cancer Center outpatient clinic on the downtown Phoenix Biomedical Campus. The city will contribute $14 million towards the expense of constructing the six-story, 250,000 square-foot facility, which UA envisions serving 60,000 patients each year.

Construction should begin before the end of the year, with the first $4 million of Phoenix's support paying for design and planning. Officials anticipate opening the $135 million clinic to patients in 2014. Clinical-care provision has already begun ramping up, though, under an arrangement finalized in February that makes St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center the Arizona Cancer Center's clinical partner in Maricopa County.

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Red Lake solar project stalled
May 24, 2011
Kingman Daily Miner

KINGMAN - Plans for a 340-megawatt concentrated solar plant north of Kingman near Red Lake, appear to be stalled.

Kingman Mayor John Salem said he had not heard from Hualapai Valley Solar or its parent company, Mohave Sun Power for several months until he received an email from Hualapai Valley Solar Project Manager Greg Bartlett earlier this month.

The email states NV Energy would not issue a power purchase agreement for any utility-scale solar project. Hualapai Valley Solar and its parent company, Mohave Sun Power, had been hoping to snag an agreement with the utility in order to keep its funding agreement with ACS Cobra.

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SRP to buy output from new Ariz. wind farm
May. 26, 2011
The Arizona Republic

Salt River Project will buy power generated from a large wind farm planned for south of Seligman in Yavapai County, the utility said Thursday.

NextEra Energy Resources will build and run the plant, selling the output to SRP.

The company is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc., which also owns Florida Power and Light Co. It is also building a wind farm near Williams that will sell power to Arizona Public Service Co.

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