This just in: $1 Billion and 500 new solar jobs in Tennessee

Green JobsNo matter how much their name makes me laugh, there’s nothing funny about Wacker Chemie AG settling on Tennessee as a good place to build its first solar manufacturing plant in the U.S., much less all the solar jobs going to Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 

Just one look at the DOE’s solar radiation map tells me that Texas should be blowing Tennessee (and all the other states) away when it comes to attracting businesses that rely on solar radiation.

The truth is that solar companies WANT to come to Texas. Right now, there is an intense lobbying effort going on in the capitol to get Texas up to speed with other states that have already adopted solar-friendly rebates and policies like Renewable Portfolio Standards, which would bring more solar jobs to Texas. There’s a lot of excitement from legislators too. By my count, more than 70 bills have been filed to help make Texas more attractive to renewable energy manufacturers and generators.

The trick will be figuring out how to leverage Texas’ excellent business atmosphere and renewable energy leadership so that Texans get the most out of their money. With so many states bending over backward to attract solar, wind, and biomass companies and their related long-term, high-paying jobs, it’s going to be important to do something as big as Texas while protecting our consumers at the same time. 

California has done a good job of attracting solar business with its rebate program, but at a pretty steep cost ($900 million and counting) and with not much to show for it – only 300 MW from solar rooftops. Much of this has to do with the state’s almost draconian goals. 

Tennessee and Michigan have done an excellent job of creating strong incentives based on reasonable but aggressive goals that include renewable energy goals, business development incentives and rebate programs. 

Texas has shown that with reasonable goals and good customer protection, we can do better. If lawmakers don’t take advantage of this opportunity while the solar manufacturing industry is still deciding where to locate, we’ll miss out on the jobs as well as the clean energy.  And since we already know what works in Texas, let’s start with expanding the Renewable Portfolio Standard to make sure we bring those solar jobs to Texas.

This entry was posted in Jobs, Renewable Energy, Texas. Bookmark the permalink. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.

47 Comments

  1. Posted June 13, 2010 at 6:03 pm | Permalink

    Wow..very good…Nice blog and well updated…

  2. Posted June 13, 2010 at 7:14 pm | Permalink

    Admiring the time and effort you put into your blog and detailed information you offer! I will bookmark your blog and have my children check up here often. Thumbs up!

  3. Posted June 13, 2010 at 9:47 pm | Permalink

    I usually don’t post in blogs but your blog forced me to, amazing work.. beautiful ! French Architectural Antiques

  4. Posted June 14, 2010 at 6:31 am | Permalink

    The site above says you can get a hold of a free 3DS on-line….. Has anyone tried using any of those free 3DS offers?????

  5. Posted June 14, 2010 at 8:07 am | Permalink

    Wow. Your website is probably the greatest I have discovered on this subject. I love the manner you made it and the layout is genuinely cool. Do you preserve it updated all the time or is that a lot of difficult work?

  6. Posted June 14, 2010 at 8:21 am | Permalink

    Hola :-O Just visited your website. Actually took in your post, I’ll send it along! Have a fantastic day! Ryan from Iowa

  7. Posted June 14, 2010 at 9:39 am | Permalink

    I have seen a great deal from your internet site. I am very encouraged that i found it. It has been very usable to me. Thanks

  8. Posted June 14, 2010 at 11:03 am | Permalink

    Can You tell if Robert and Kristen is together? I really need to know!

  9. Posted June 14, 2010 at 5:04 pm | Permalink

    I love Lady Gaga, wild :)

  10. Posted June 14, 2010 at 5:16 pm | Permalink
  11. Posted June 14, 2010 at 5:28 pm | Permalink

    Iv seen this somewhere before, typing to figure out where it was, nice blog.

  12. Posted June 14, 2010 at 8:25 pm | Permalink

    I found one at the linked site, they even have an offer for a promo, but it looks like insurance pays for it ? any aid out there ? diabetic supplies

  13. Posted June 14, 2010 at 8:57 pm | Permalink

    Quite an educational blog, thank you for sharing. Great to know not everything that you find online is rubbish!

  14. Posted June 15, 2010 at 12:51 am | Permalink

    Hi, just needed you to know I have added your site to my Google bookmarks because of your extraordinary blog layout. But seriously, I think your site has one of the freshest theme I’ve came across. It really helps make reading your blog a lot easier.

  15. Posted June 15, 2010 at 7:40 am | Permalink

    Thanks for a awesome post and interesting comments. I found this post while searching for some music lyrics. Thanks for sharing this story.

  16. Posted June 15, 2010 at 12:43 pm | Permalink

    We didn’t purchase ours in Memphis as we don’t live there (but it is a beautiful city!). We purchased our rockers online at Cedarstore.com. Great products, quick delivery, and a quality company to work with.

  17. Posted June 15, 2010 at 1:03 pm | Permalink

    I really loved the top 5 American idol group medley last night. It was moving to see Aaron Kelly removed however I think the other singers were better singers hence he needed to go!

  18. Posted June 15, 2010 at 1:45 pm | Permalink

    This is valuable information , thanks I will try it out!

  19. Posted June 15, 2010 at 3:11 pm | Permalink

    Couldn’t be written any better. Reading this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this article to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!

  20. Posted June 15, 2010 at 6:27 pm | Permalink

    Manchester and Liverpool are the two in the North West of England and are situated around 34 miles apart, with the M62 motorway the least complicated way to get involving the two cities
    http://unitedblogarticles.com

  21. Posted June 16, 2010 at 12:36 am | Permalink

    Great information you write it very clean. Iג€™m very lucky to get this details from you.

  22. Posted June 16, 2010 at 3:45 am | Permalink

    Hello, i just found a free on-line Community where a large number individuals speak about their living with back pain. I just started my cost-free account today and want to invite you. http://www.tinyurl.com/back-pain-community

  23. Posted June 16, 2010 at 5:46 am | Permalink

    Through the 2008/09 Premier League year or so Liverpool did the double more than Man Utd, beating them 2-1 at Anfield and 4-1 at Old Trafford, it was Liverpool’s finest league campaign in decades but they even now came up short as United won the league by four points http://unitedblogarticles.com

  24. Posted June 16, 2010 at 9:04 am | Permalink

    great post,i will add ur blog to my bookmark!

  25. Posted June 16, 2010 at 12:28 pm | Permalink

    Howdy there,Superb article dude! i am Tired of using RSS feeds and do you use twitter?so i can follow you there:D. PS:Do you thought about putting video to the blog to keep the readers more enjoyed?I think it works.

  26. Posted June 16, 2010 at 3:25 pm | Permalink

    What I dont understand is how youre not even more popular than you are now. Youre just so intelligent. You know so much about this subject, made me think about it from so many different angles. Its like people arent interested unless it has something to do with Lady Gaga! Your stuffs great. Keep it up!

  27. Posted June 16, 2010 at 3:38 pm | Permalink
  28. Posted June 17, 2010 at 2:21 am | Permalink

    I recently came accross your site and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my very first comment. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this website very often.

  29. Posted June 17, 2010 at 2:50 am | Permalink

    This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I love seeing websites that understand the value of providing a quality resource for free. It?s the old what goes around comes around routine.

  30. Posted June 17, 2010 at 11:10 am | Permalink

    I am really intrigued by what you have discussed! Can you provide me with any more information on it? Like more posts haha! Thanks!

  31. Posted June 17, 2010 at 4:54 pm | Permalink

    Quite exciting internet site. Hope it is going to constantly be alive!

  32. Posted June 17, 2010 at 5:50 pm | Permalink

    Thanks for the great post. I hope you guys find this joke pretty good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd0svVWfFbo

  33. Posted June 17, 2010 at 5:58 pm | Permalink

    I have to admit you hit the nail on the head with that one. Good Point! If You Want to Watch The Africa World Cup 2010 Online Visit -> http://www.africaworldcup.tv

  34. Posted June 18, 2010 at 7:41 am | Permalink

    Hey that’s sweet! Thanks for the share!

  35. Posted June 18, 2010 at 10:02 am | Permalink

    Wow nice cam girll like this one could make me just happy!

  36. Posted June 18, 2010 at 2:11 pm | Permalink

    I doubt I could keep up with running a site like it! Nice work and I hope you keep on for a long time.

  37. Posted June 18, 2010 at 5:25 pm | Permalink

    Timmy Vanderwoude

  38. Posted June 18, 2010 at 5:31 pm | Permalink

    Can you email me back, please. Thank you.

  39. Posted June 18, 2010 at 9:56 pm | Permalink

    Great hairstyle collection, love your posts, you can check other updo hairstyles on hxpix.com

  40. Posted June 19, 2010 at 9:30 am | Permalink

    Great article! Any thoughts that you would like to share to help us understand your last section a small bit further? thanks a lot

  41. Posted June 19, 2010 at 10:27 am | Permalink

    shares employ a excellent website decent Gives thanks for the work to help out me personally

  42. Posted June 19, 2010 at 10:59 am | Permalink

    Real nice camgirl , please could you write some more , thank you anyway!

  43. Posted June 19, 2010 at 12:44 pm | Permalink

    Wow why is it that when someone writes we all listen and believe. We have to all read and think for oursleves

  44. Posted June 19, 2010 at 12:57 pm | Permalink

    Hey very nice blog!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I will bookmark your blog and take the feeds also…

  45. Posted June 20, 2010 at 7:03 am | Permalink

    Hey, I searched for this blog on Bing and just wanted to say thanks for the excellent read. I would have to agree with it, thank you again!

  46. Posted June 20, 2010 at 1:07 pm | Permalink

    Hey there, This post is rather educational and fun to read. I am a huge follower in the items blogged about. I also adore reading the comments, but it looks as being a good deal of readers need to stay on topic to try and add something to the original topic. I would also encourage all of you to bookmark this page to your most used program to support get the term out. Thanks