New energy standards having an effect

One of the primary pieces of legislation pushed by Democrats and some Republicans in the General Assembly and signed by Governor Ritter in 2007 was a new mandate on our utility companies. The new standard required energy companies to generate 20% of their power from renewable energy by 2020. It's hardly an onerous mandate and yet, predictably, there was some screeching from the right-wing noise machine.

Well we're now beginning to see the fruits of these new standards.

Denver International Airport soon will finish installing dozens of solar panels near the entrance to the main terminal to generate green electricity for a substantial part of its operations.

The 2-megawatt system will be installed by late July or early August, DIA spokesman Chuck Cannon said.

The airport then will begin drawing electricity from the panels equal to half of the amount needed to run the passenger trains that connect the main concourse to the terminals.

"The airport spent very little money on the project," Cannon said. "The project is being built and is owned by MMA. The only outlay by the airport was some earthwork grading for the pads, which was done through our existing construction contracts."

Solar Panel projects like these are simple common sense steps that we should be encouraging utility companies to make nation wide. It's not an energy solution unto itself but it's an effective pro-active measure. A little nudge from the government and the industry adapts, it's a relatively pain-free use of government power.

As nano-technology progresses we'll see superior solar panel technology, making it easier to harness the power of the sun - even on cloudy days. It's a technology that has been with us for decades but one who's true potential has eluded us. Now that the technology is maturing these mandates become less and less onerous and more and more sensible.