Texas cares little for environmental niceties. Its governor, Rick Perry, bashes the Environmental Protection Agency at every opportunity, and recently branded the climate bill that passed the House of Representatives a "legislative monstrosity." Yet the oil-and-gas state has nonetheless emerged as the nation's top producer of a commodity prized by environmentalists: wind power. Eager developers are covering its desolate western mesas with giant turbines. The world's largest wind farm began operations in Texas this month, and the state now has close to three times as much wind capacity as Iowa, the second-ranked state.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the state's governor, has supported controversial proposals by the California's energy commission to impose strict energy consumption limits on TVs with screens that are more than 40 inches wide. The commission claims that California's estimated 35 million televisions and related gadgets account for about 10 per cent of household energy consumption in the state.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a pair of renewable-energy bills late Sunday, saying that an alternative plan he is pursuing to boost the state's percentage of renewable power sold to 33% is preferable. ...Unlike the vetoed legislation, the new rules won't limit the amount of renewable power California utilities can buy from out-of-state facilities that are too far away to deliver the electricity in real time. Mr. Schwarzenegger agreed ...that restricting out-of-state renewable energy purchases would make it nearly impossible for utilities to meet the 2020 deadline.

In Utah, state officials are fielding various combinations of energy proposals, a list that includes solar and geothermal installations and an energy storage project ...Scores of projects - some speculative, others well-funded and a few quirky - have surfaced with energy companies eager to take advantage of loan guarantees and tax breaks being promoted by President Barack Obama.

The flurry of recent renewable power decisions in Sacramento could have far-reaching - even contradictory - results. ...Renewable power advocates are still trying to assess the effects of all the things that Sacramento did and didn't do. But they see several likely results.

California's push to supersize its renewable energy standards could drive electricity rates higher for Northwest consumers, strain the west's transmission and hydroelectric systems, and create a host of thorny policy issues. The California Assembly passed a pair of bills Friday to create the nation's most aggressive renewable energy mandate. It would require utilities to meet one third of their customers' needs with green energy such as wind, solar and geothermal by 2020.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office said Saturday that he would veto legislation requiring a third of California's energy to come from renewable sources by 2020, choosing instead to mandate the change through an executive order. The Democratic bills that passed the state Legislature just before the end of the legislative session Friday would have set up the most aggressive renewable energy standards in the nation. But they also sought to limit the amount of energy from sources such as wind, solar and geothermal that could come from out-of-state.

California lawmakers approved one of the world's most aggressive renewable-energy mandates early Saturday in legislation that would require the state's utilities to use renewable sources like the sun and wind to generate a third of the power they sell by 2020. The proposal is a centerpiece of the state's 2006 plan to combat climate change, which has broad public support. And although it's more aggressive than a similar federal proposal pending in Congress, the legislation could influence decisions in Washington.

Two bills pending in the Legislature would force the state's electrical utilities to get 33 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020, up from the current requirement of 20 percent by the end of 2010. ...But the details involved in reaching such an ambitious goal have touched off a complex debate, one that will probably reach its climax in the next week when the Assembly votes on one of the bills.

In May, 62 wind turbines started sending electricity from southern Washington state to the Turlock Irrigation District. Next year, a nearby wind project in northern Oregon will start supplying the Modesto Irrigation District. ...Outsourcing renewable power irks some activists. "It totally takes the focus off building our green-tech economy," said Laura Wisland, a clean energy analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists in Berkeley.

At the State Capitol, boosting the use of solar power, wind generators and other renewable energy sources is seen as a boon for both the environment and the economy in electricity-hungry California. But with two weeks left in the legislative session, Democrats are hustling to fulfill a commitment they made to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to pass a law to require all utilities to get a third of their power from "green" sources by 2020.

California's electric utilities have accepted that they'll be required to get a third of their power from renewable sources by 2020. Now, they are battling environmental and labor groups over where it's going to come from. Utilities say they can't meet the 2020 goal unless the state allows them relatively free access to renewable power generated far beyond the state's borders, in places like Wyoming and British Columbia.

A Washington wind farm that its developer calls “one of the premier wind sites in the Pacific Northwest” has been sold to a group of California utilities. ...Why is California buying made-in-Washington wind power? California has much higher electricity rates than Washington, so the wind power premium is proportionately cheaper.

Sharon Reid and her husband, Dewitt, a retired Marine major, pay $170 in a typical month ---- and some months more than $230 ---- to cool and light their 2,000-square-foot, tri-level home in Vista. Without making any changes in lifestyle, their electricity bill is likely to increase by $45 a month on average as California overhauls its power grid and tries to shift the source of one-third of its electricity from fossil fuels to green sources by 2020.

Burbank Water and Power officials are urging the City Council to oppose legislation that would force them to produce a third of their energy from renewable sources by 2020, arguing the requirements would drive up utility rates and strain existing electric transmission assets that the state is in short supply of.

Prompted by outcry over a proposal to place a power transmission project through Solano and neighboring counties, Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Solano, has introduced legislation to close a loophole exempting local, publicly owned utilities from state oversight. ...Existing law requires that any person proposing to construct an electric transmission line must first obtain a certification from the Commission. However, local publicly owned electric utilities do not currently fall under this law, and thus lack oversight.

California officials are beginning to worry that the state's focus on transitioning to renewable-energy sources could lead to power shortages in the near term. The state has been so keen to develop renewables that relatively few conventional power generators, such as gas-fired plants, have been built lately. That risks a possible energy shortfall in certain places if the economy rebounds any time soon.

California's push for renewable power could prove costly to consumers. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to get one-third of the state's electricity from renewable sources by 2020 could cost $115 billion in new infrastructure, according to a report released Friday by the California Public Utilities Commission. Last year, a similar report from the commission estimated the cost at $60 billion.

The intent to prevent California's utilities from using out-of-state wind and solar generation to meet the new 33% RPS requirement is not obvious from the provisions of the bills. The exclusion results from a change in the requirements concerning the "delivery" of generation to California. Under California's current RPS legislation, in order to qualify as an eligible renewable energy resource such that California's utilities can count that generation against their RPS requirements, out-of-state generators are required to deliver the electricity to California simultaneous with its generation.

Harnessing the sun and the winds will be looked at Monday by the Mohave County Supervisors. The supervisors will look to hold a special workshop in the coming months dealing with renewable energy projects in Mohave County. No workshop has been scheduled, but, upon recommendation of the county planning and zoning board, one is highly likely.