The Renewable Energy plan taps into a variety of renewable energy sources, such as landfill gas, waste heat, biomass, biodiesel and photosynthetic algae to power businesses and public institutions.
In 2008, City Council approved a goal that by 2025, 15 percent of the energy used by the city should come from renewable energy sources. To the greatest extent feasible, the city will achieve this goal through city-owned and city-sponsored projects, primarily through public and private partnerships. The goal includes periodic reviews by the city council and includes milestones to track progress. The citizen-based Environmental Quality Commission and Public Works Department collaborated to develop the recommendation for an aggressive and challenging renewable energy goal to help guide the city in future energy decisions.
The city’s Public Works department is currently planning two projects in pursuit of this goal - the first is a 3,000- kilowatt power-generating plant at the closed Skunk Creek Landfill utilizing methane gas from the site's own gas collection system. It is estimated that this project will generate output equivalent to the average power needs of 2,000 homes. The second project is a 250-megawatt, solar thermal plant to be constructed at the city's only active landfill at SR85 in Buckeye, Ariz. The plant is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2012 and is projected to provide power to 50,000 homes.
» More information about the Skunk Creek and other renewable energy projects