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  #81  
Old Posted Aug 6, 2011, 12:53 AM
nickw252 nickw252 is offline
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But a Glendale-commissioned study showed the city spent $2.2 million more than the sales taxes it collected.

...

"The city of Glendale should not be expected to pay the Super Bowl's costs without recompense when it benefits the entire region," she said.
This is another reason why sports teams should be in Phoenix and not outlying suburbs. Phoenix would be able to make a full fledged effort to get the Super Bowl because they would recuperate their expenses. Instead, we will have a hodge podge of Valley cities squabbling over the expenses.
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  #82  
Old Posted Aug 12, 2012, 7:32 PM
PhxER PhxER is offline
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U.S. Government fast track 2 Arizona Energy Projects

President Barack Obama announced late Monday that a large wind farm and a solar-power plant both planned on federal land in Arizona will get expedited reviews so they can begin construction quickly.

Five other projects across California, Nevada and Wyoming will get similar treatment, according to the announcement.

The projects in Arizona include the Mohave Wind Energy facility that BP Wind Energy of North America has proposed for a site northwest of Kingman and southeast of Hoover Dam. The project could have as many as 258 wind turbines spread across 47,000 acres of public land, according to the draft environmental-impact statement.


It could generate between 425 megawatts and 500 megawatts of electricity in a steady breeze, according to the impact statement. One megawatt is about enough to power 250 average Arizona homes at once, when a power plant is operating.

The other Arizona project getting fast-tracked is the Quartzsite Solar Energy facility planned by SolarReserve off Interstate 10 in western Arizona.


The power plant would be capable of generating 100 megawatts of power in direct sunlight using a solar-thermal technology.

SolarReserve's technology uses thousands of mirrors to focus sunlight to the top of a 550-foot tower, where the heat is used to generate electricity. The Quartzsite project also would incorporate technology to store heat and generate electricity when clouds pass or after sunset.

The news release from the White House said both projects will help Arizona meet its targets for renewable energy. However, neither BP nor Solar Reserve has announced deals to sell its electricity to utilities, which typically is required for power plants to move forward. It is possible one or both could end up selling the electricity into California if they are built.

The announcement said the projects are part of Obama's "We Can't Wait" initiative to create jobs with infrastructure projects. It builds on a March executive order from the president to make government agencies more efficient at processing applications for infrastructure projects so as not to delay investments. The projects still must face federal review, but apparently with an increased urgency.

"We are working to advance smart development of renewable energy on our public lands," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a prepared statement. "These seven proposed solar and wind projects have great potential to grow our nation's energy independence, drive job creation and power economies across the West."

Salazar visited Arizona in January to meet with renewable-energy leaders and said then that the administration would expand its push for developing alternative energy.

Last month, the Interior Department announced a final plan to quickly permit solar plants on 17 designated sites throughout the West, including two in Arizona.

There are no immediate plans for those sites, but if the plan is approved and developers choose to build there, the permitting process will be quick because all possible concerns with those parcels already have been addressed, according to the department.

Link

More info about Quartzsite Solar Facility, click here

Some (dated) info on the BP Wind Farm in Mohave County, click here
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  #83  
Old Posted Feb 2, 2013, 2:58 PM
nickw252 nickw252 is offline
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PHOENIX (AP) — An Italian company is proposing to build a massive solar-power plant south of Phoenix.

Marisol Energy 2 envisions a project that would generate 300 megawatts when the sun is shining. That would be enough power for 75,000 homes.

The Arizona Republic (http://bit.ly/TnuXwZ) reports that Maricopa Solar Park Project is envisioned near the town of Maricopa and the Sonoran Desert National Monument.

The plant would require about 1,700 acres of land.

Marisol Energy 2 applied in April with the Bureau of Land Management to use the parcel.

The BLM has designated the land as being appropriate for renewable-energy projects.

It's still unclear where the electricity from the power plant might be sold.
Neither Salt River Project nor Arizona Public Service Co. has agreed to buy power from the project.
Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/a...#ixzz2Jko2L2Yd
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  #84  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2013, 12:02 AM
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Arquitect Arquitect is offline
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Originally Posted by nickw252 View Post
Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/a...#ixzz2Jko2L2Yd
I have heard a lot about foreign investors wanting to invest in solar power here in AZ. I think it is fantastic. We really should be capitalizing from our most abundant resource!
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  #85  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2013, 4:05 AM
nickw252 nickw252 is offline
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I have heard a lot about foreign investors wanting to invest in solar power here in AZ. I think it is fantastic. We really should be capitalizing from our most abundant resource!
Unfortunately the newly elected Corporation Commission doesn't think solar power is important for Arizona. C'mon Arizona voters, get your heads out of your asses.
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  #86  
Old Posted May 2, 2014, 3:32 AM
ASU Diablo ASU Diablo is offline
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Planned Arizona solar tower would be tallest structure in North America

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The small southwestern Arizona town of San Luis has approved the $1.5 billion Solar Wind Energy Tower Inc. project, which will result in the tallest structure in North America.
Bloomberg News reported today the structure would be 2,250 feet tall. By comparison, the 108-story Willis Tower in Chicago (formerly the Sears Tower) stands at 1,451 feet.
This planned project would use ambient desert heat to create a draft to generate electricity.
The Annapolis, Maryland-based company chose this city 20 miles southwest of Yuma as its first project in the U.S. after evaluating multiple sites in the Southwest over two and a half years, company officials say.

“The San Luis site was selected in part by utilizing our recently announced proprietary software which can accurately calculate and predict energy production 24/7 given local weather data,” said Ron Pickett, CEO of Solar Wind Energy Tower Inc. “By feeding the weather data into the program, the outcome dictates the optimum size of the tower’s dimensions as well as its financial performance. As a result, Solar Wind Energy deemed this location as prime for a tower project.”

The Solar Wind Downdraft Tower structure will resemble a nuclear plant’s cooling tower and would be capable of generating an average rate of 435 megawatt-hours over a year’s time, with the output almost tripling in the hottest months of July and August, Pickett told Bloomberg.

Solar Wind created the technology for the project, which has yet to find financing or an energy customer, according to Bloomberg.

The San Luis City Council approved the deal April 23. The company plans to purchase more than 600 acres in the city, Solar Wind officials say.
This could be big...definitely headed in the right direction when it's coming to solar
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  #87  
Old Posted May 2, 2014, 5:54 PM
KevininPhx KevininPhx is offline
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Originally Posted by airomero83 View Post
Planned Arizona solar tower would be tallest structure in North America



This could be big...definitely headed in the right direction when it's coming to solar
I was really excited to read this until I saw the kick-ass ugly design. Yowks.
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  #88  
Old Posted May 2, 2014, 6:48 PM
westbev93 westbev93 is offline
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The BizJournal's reporting leaves a lot to be desired again. I'm pretty sure another company tried (and failed) at bringing similar tech to Australia. They claim it will power upwards of a million homes, but I don't think they've ever actually built this so I wonder how accurate that prediction is.

Finally, and probably most importantly, the way this works is by pumping water into the air and using the downdraft to generate power. The Yuma area isn't really known for water surplus. The Colorado River is already claimed by prior users, tribal pacts, and other agreements so I doubt they could use river water unless there is some agriculture in the area that would give up its claim to river water.

I'll be shocked if this actually comes to fruition.

Last edited by westbev93; May 2, 2014 at 7:30 PM.
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  #89  
Old Posted May 3, 2014, 7:18 AM
rocksteady rocksteady is offline
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Originally Posted by KevininPhx View Post
I was really excited to read this until I saw the kick-ass ugly design. Yowks.
Is the design really something to be unhappy about considering it is in San Luis, Arizona and off the beaten path?
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  #90  
Old Posted May 18, 2014, 1:12 AM
Thirsty Thirsty is offline
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I'd rather not think about where they're getting all that water.

Hopefully they'll pump seawater up from Mexico, but I doubt it.
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  #91  
Old Posted May 18, 2014, 8:50 PM
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Originally Posted by KevininPhx View Post
I was really excited to read this until I saw the kick-ass ugly design. Yowks.
Why the hell would anyone get worked up over the design of a solar structure? It is designed to serve a specific purpose and not to be an aesthetically pleasing piece of architecture. Do you become nauseous at the sight of power lines or smoke stacks? It's baffling. San Luis should just be happy at this investment in their community. If you've been there before, you would realize that they need all the help they need.
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  #92  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2014, 9:04 PM
Phxguy Phxguy is offline
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http://www.thegreatglobe.com/project.html

Planned to be located just South of Casa Grande, this looks like a really cool project that could place a major attraction within our borders. I do like the location in tucked into the mountains although I wish it was closer to either Phoenix or Tucson. I can almost see it being off the 101 in Scottsdale right next to the new Odysea and Butterfly World. However, I do like the thought of the mountains obscuring it until approach. There's also a mention of a monorail riding into the village that is to be constructed around the globe.
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  #93  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2014, 9:41 PM
sh9730 sh9730 is offline
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I read another article about this somewhere recently (PBJ or AZBEX maybe?). Anyway, I thought it must be near us here in Casa Grande - but they aren't saying officially. How did you come up with that and do you have exact location?

Is it near Picacho Peak? I cant tell exactly from the pictures of the site....

EDIT: I see the reference to south of CG on one of the pages on that website - but still doesn't say exactly where it is - and the site is pretty outdated - but again I did see another article on it very recently so it is still a project.

Found the link to the recent article:

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/get...fd681799a.html

More edit: Should have done my own research - its going to be on the Tohono Odham Reservation according to this article:

http://kjzz.org/content/69335/projec...-model-arizona

So that would be basically south of I 8 and west of Arizona City.

2020 is a long ways away though - but I do hope this comes to fruition - might help stimulate some hospitality related development along I 8....

Last edited by sh9730; Nov 28, 2014 at 10:03 PM.
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  #94  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2015, 6:25 PM
Obadno Obadno is offline
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Benson Master Planned community 28,000 homes

El Dorado Holdings is one of the major developers that pushed Maricopa.

28,000 homes ... in Benson... that's right Benson.

http://azbex.com/benson-considers-28k-home-development/
http://azbex.com/benson-development-will-move-forward/


"There will be a 20-year period from the start to the end of construction. We’ll build 2,000 a year during good times, 750 in slow times, and there could be 2,500 in hot times."

It appears that they are going to turn Benson into Tucson's Maricopa. I'm assuming mostly retirees and Canadian seasonal/snowbirds.

I think this plan is insane but apparently they are going to try.
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  #95  
Old Posted Dec 23, 2015, 12:13 AM
muertecaza muertecaza is offline
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Originally Posted by PhxER View Post
The projects in Arizona include the Mohave Wind Energy facility that BP Wind Energy of North America has proposed for a site northwest of Kingman and southeast of Hoover Dam. The project could have as many as 258 wind turbines spread across 47,000 acres of public land, according to the draft environmental-impact statement.


It could generate between 425 megawatts and 500 megawatts of electricity in a steady breeze, according to the impact statement. One megawatt is about enough to power 250 average Arizona homes at once, when a power plant is operating.
Slow news week, so I thought I'd mention that the FAA shows that it received Obstruction Evaluation cases for about 200 wind turbines for this project last week, so it appears to be still in play. Applications show that the turbines would be about 500' tall.

https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external...ases&pageNum=1
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  #96  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2018, 7:19 PM
muertecaza muertecaza is offline
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Interesting article about Payson trying to revitalize their Main St. Personally I love Payson the way it is--small town on the way up north. But I get the inclination to reinvigorate the area. I also get the concern about not wanting to be a Sedona type destination. If they were truly interested in using more urban design on the main drag could be cool.

http://www.paysonroundup.com/news/lo...20f9db0e8.html
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  #97  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2018, 8:36 PM
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I couldn't even begin to offer suggestions about what they could do to revitalize the area.

Not only is it off the beaten path of 87, there's not one thing there that invites stopping to walk around and discover something.
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  #98  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2018, 8:53 PM
nickw252 nickw252 is offline
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Originally Posted by combusean View Post
I couldn't even begin to offer suggestions about what they could do to revitalize the area.

Not only is it off the beaten path of 87, there's not one thing there that invites stopping to walk around and discover something.
I have a cabin in Pine and drive through Payson on a weekly basis but have never been to their Main Street. In fact, until recently I didn't even know there was a downtown (outside of 87).
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  #99  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2018, 9:07 PM
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Yeah, I have been up 87 a bunch of times but never thought to stop on Main.

There's not even a "downtown" in any traditional definition of the word. It's just a street called Main. They could have called it 8th Avenue (as its on the 800 block) or hell 57th Street and there wouldn't be anything different about it.

Payson has never been known for its downtown or its Main Street as much as its been the Walmart or whatever you stop at for supplies. Seems kind of a waste of time to try and revitalize it without anyone building anything there. Reminds me of the quixotic beautification projects Tempe tried in the 1990s on Apache before they wised up and dropped in light rail.
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  #100  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2018, 9:14 PM
nickw252 nickw252 is offline
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Originally Posted by muertecaza View Post
I also get the concern about not wanting to be a Sedona type destination.
http://www.paysonroundup.com/news/lo...20f9db0e8.html
I don't understand why they wouldn't want to be like Sedona. What would be wrong with that? It would raise property values, bring in more tourists, bring in more tax revenue, etc. What is the issue? And what is their alternative?

Regardless, I think it may be best for them to focus on 87 more than Main Street since that's where the visibility and traffic already is.
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