UGREEN Authority will provide financial incentives and state support to upgrade the electrical grid, making it possible for Utah’s abundant supply of geothermal, wind, solar and other renewable energy resources to be developed to help meet the nation’s energy needs. UGREEN Authority is designed to help renewable energy projects gain appropriate transmission access to the markets where power is needed. Tax incentives include a refundable certificate up to the amount of the economic benefit realized by the state from new state revenues.
The Hatch geothermal power plant was constructed in just six months. This rapid development was made possible by Raser’s innovative modular power plant design. In addition, this low-temperature technology can produce power from the nation’s vast reserves of geothermal resources that were previously thought to be not hot enough for commercial power production.
Noting that Utah has natural resources that can be economically developed and managed responsibly to provide much of the West’s renewable energy demands, Governor Huntsman said, “I am pleased to see home-grown businesses, like Raser, take a leadership role in developing our geothermal resources for the benefit of us all.”
Brent M. Cook, chief executive officer of Raser, said, “We are proud to be one of the inaugural renewable energy projects up and running in the state’s new renewable energy zone. In signing this legislation, Governor Huntsman is marking the dawn of Utah’s renewable energy era through the support that our State government is providing.”
Cook added that Raser’s Hatch geothermal plant in Beaver county, Utah, began to deliver electrical power to the City of Anaheim, California last week.
“This legislation,” Cook concluded, “will promote the development of Utah’s substantial geothermal resources to produce clean, renewable energy for the State and launch many more facilities like the Hatch plant in Utah and throughout our nation.”
