 "Photo: Jeffrey McWhorter; The Daily Texan")
In the future, Austin residents could open their mailboxes to find checks from the utility company instead of bills, said solar energy advocates Wednesday at the Clean Energy Venture Summit.
The Pecan Street Project, a collaborative effort of Austin Energy, the Environmental Defense Fund, UT and several state and national corporate partners, aims to increase the use of clean, alternative energy sources. If the plan comes to fruition, Austin Energy will erect solar panels on the roofs of local homes and offices. The energy produced by the panels could power nearby areas, with excess energy sent back to the power grid for redistribution. Participating residents and businesses would be paid for that excess energy.
“We need to be focusing on locally produced clean energy,” said Mayor Pro Tem Brewster McCracken, a leading advocate of the plan. “That’s where the future is.”
McCracken said Austin is the ideal city for this plan. Because Texas is the only state with its own power grid, innovations can be considered without waiting for federal approval.
Additionally, the City Council serves as Austin Energy’s board of directors, making it easier for the city to improve technological services.
“We think it really is an opportunity to make a fundamental difference and make a real contribution to solving the problem of global warming,” said Jim Marston, director of the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund‘s Texas office. “But this is more than an environmental issue. It is also an economic issue. You’re going to create jobs here and keep your money here.”
McCracken credited the enthusiasm of corporate sponsors such as IBM, Dell, Microsoft and Cisco to the people of Austin.
“One of the reasons why our corporate partners are very interested in being a part of this [is] Austin voters’ strong support for clean energy,” he said.
Though project organizers say they have not yet determined where funding will come from for the initiative, it currently benefits from the donated time of executives from the corporations involved. These volunteers have pledged to continue their work at least through the initial planning stages, set to last until Aug. 1.
Even after planning is complete, Austin Energy’s Deputy General Manager Roger Duncan said it will take serious effort to develop such a complex project.
“The challenges are really great when you get into the details,” Duncan said.
The University will play a large role in the project, in a manner to be determined at a later date, said Michael Webber, associate director of UT’s Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy.
Webber said UT’s collaboration could open the door for more research projects with faculty and student involvement. He also suggested adding courses to the curriculum to train students in this new technology.
Though students may learn more about alternative energy as the project continues, current students hoping to make a few bucks for textbooks by erecting solar panels of their own would do better to find another source of income, as the completion of the Pecan Street Project could be a long time coming.
“That could be anywhere from five to 50 years [away],” Webber said. “We don’t know.”
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