Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said Tuesday that the state should include
more nuclear power plants in its energy portfolio while cutting
taxes and government regulation to provide a welcome mat for solar
and wind projects encountering "green tape" elsewhere.
Said Brewer, "Memo to California solar industries: Arizona's door
is open, we'll leave the light on for you."
Brewer outlined a portfolio of positions and initiatives on energy
topics during an address to a regional business summit held at a
Phoenix resort.
Arizona already is home to the three-reactor Palo Verde Nuclear
Generating Station west of Phoenix, and Brewer said she wants to
develop more nuclear power.
No new nuclear power plant has been built in the U.S. for decades
but economic and environmental factors warrant a new emphasis on
that electricity source, Brewer said.
"I believe it's the wave of the future," she said.
Brewer said she is committed to taking other steps to make Arizona
"the solar capital of the world."
She cited newly enacted income and property tax incentives that
encouraged a major Chinese solar company, Suntech Power Holdings,
to choose Arizona for a major manufacturing plant.
Arizona should go beyond those new tax incentives targeted to
renewable energy projects by making itself more attractive to jobs
-providing businesses in general by phasing in an overall reduction
of the corporate income tax, Brewer said.
That proposal will be included her State of the State address
Monday, she said.
Brewer, who froze new state rule-making after taking office just
under a year go, also said she will continue to push efforts to
reduce "the hidden tax of regulation."
