Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar was a man of many hats on Monday during a visit to Milford High School and tour of renewable energy sites in the southwestern Utah.
After a morning visit with Gov. Gary Herbert in Salt Lake City, Salazar visited the high school to congratulate the renewable energy class of Andy Swapp, whose students were instrumental in gathering information used in creation of a 204 megawatt wind farm just northeast of town.
"This is very inspirational," Salazar told the class of about 20 students. "We need to open a new chapter in America getting power from the sun, wind, geothermal and biomass."
He said the best way to win over skeptics of renewable energy is to show them an operational project like the wind farm the students are associated with.
"You are doing something for your country," he said.
Moving from the classroom, Salazar helped dedicate two solar panels newly installed at the school.
The panels were purchased with a $125,000 grant from Rocky Mountain Power and will supply the school with 20 kilowatts of power.
The teacher Swapp, after thanking Salazar for his visit, commented that the two were different.
"While he [Salazar] wears a cowboy hat and rides a horse, I wear a baseball cap and ride a mule," joked Swapp, "But one thing we agree on is renewable energy and its phenomenal importance."
Swapp then handed the secretary a blue ball cap with the logo of wind farm owners First Wind on it, and Salazar gave Swapp his signature white straw cowboy hat.
The secretary traded his new hat for a hard hat during a tour of Rocky Mountain Power's Blundelll geothermal plant about 15 miles northeast of Milford.
The secretary asked numerous questions about the plant that has been operating since 1984.
When he asked why geothermal has not captured the imagination with the public like wind and solar, Rocky Mountain president Richard Walje said the cost to develop geothermal projects are enormous with no guarantee a test well will produce. He also said in Utah there is no provision to recover drilling costs for a dry well.
"Tax credits would help, but will they be there when we need them?" said Walje.
James R. Gazewood, renewable energy coordinator for the state office of the Bureau of Land Management, said there are five geothermal complexes in Utah with three producing power.
He also said leases for geothermal projects have jumped to 160,000 acres.
After the Blundell plant, Salazar drove several miles away to visit phase one of the Milford Wind Corridor Project with 97 towers rising from the valley floor like a forest of giant pin wheels.
After climbing into a safety harness, the secretary rode an elevator up the center of a wind tower 285 feet high to learn how the turbines and generators work. A door was then opened on a panoramic view of Beaver County.
The wind farm was opened a few months ago by the Boston-based First Wind, and CEO Paul Gaynor said the company is preparing to build phase two that will plant another 68 towers and generate 102 megawatts.
Gaynor told Salazar the valley that stretches through Beaver and Millard counties could eventually produce 1,000 megawatts of wind-generated power.
Milford High student Annette Rogers, a student in Swapp's class, said it was "awesome" that Salazar would visit the small town school.
'The [renewable] energy class is great opportunity for the kids and the community," she said after receiving Salazar;s autograph.
Senior Chris Manuele said what he has learned in Swapp's class will help keep him in Milford.
"I've been guaranteed a job if they build phase two," he said.
Austen Larsen, a sophomore, was also impressed with Salazar, but would also like to see the secretary's boss.
"Hopefully Obama will come here and check it out," he said.
By Mark Havnes of The Salt Lake Tribune http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14964790
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