NEWS RELEASE
Nov. 9, 2006                                

Lt. Governor’s committee to look at emerging energy

MOSES LAKE, Wash. — “Washington’s Emerging Energy Technologies” will be the subject of the Legislative Committee on Economic Development and International Relations’ (LCEDIR) Nov. 16 meeting at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake. 

The committee, chaired by Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, will hear from experts on bio fuel, solar energy, wind farm energy, liquefied natural gas and modern hydropower technologies. The LCEDIR will convene at 1:30 p.m. at the ATECH Building, Room C and D. 

Each of these technologies has been put to use around the Moses Lake area. Wind farms in neighboring Kittitas County, for example, are gearing up to produce enough energy to power 70,000 homes. The committee will receive a briefing from officials with Puget Sound Energy on that company’s Wild Horse Wind Farm Project.  

“Our state’s strong agricultural base, coupled with research at our universities makes Washington an ideal environment to implement model, long-term energy solutions,” said Lt. Gov. Owen, who recently returned from a trade trip to Brazil to look at the use of sustainable energy technologies in that country. 

In addition to the meeting, the committee will tour the most advanced turbine installed in a hydroelectric powerhouse in the United States at Grant County PUD's Wanapum Dam on the Columbia River.  The first of ten of these “fish friendly” turbines was installed at the dam two years ago and the rest are being installed over the next nine years.  

Committee members will also tour the REC Silicon plant, which is the world’s first dedicated producer of polycrystalline silicon for solar applications.  

On Nov. 15 Lt. Gov. Owen will speak to the Moses Lake Rotary at their noon meeting at the Pillar Rock Restaurant about the future of Washington trade.

The mission of the LCEDIR is to study and review economic issues before the state. The committee’s duties include special emphasis on international trade, tourism, investment and industrial development, and assisting the Legislature in developing a comprehensive and consistent economic development policy.  

Current House and Senate members include state senators Rosa Franklin, Mike Hewitt, Joyce Mulliken, Cheryl Pflug, Marilyn Rasmussen and Paull Shin, and state representatives Bruce Chandler, Bob Hasegawa, Phyllis Kenney, Lynn Kessler, Dan Roach and Mary Skinner.

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For more information contact:                     

Brian Dirks (360) 786-7707 or dirks.brian@leg.wa.gov