Recently elected Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and architectural sustainability consultant Bill McDonough held a conversation with the downtown Phoenix community last month to figure out ways to put the empty lots that dot the city to work.

Zimmerman Diary has been operating in Arizona for nearly 90 years, but its long-lasting success doesn’t mean its third-generation owners haven’t had to innovate to survive along the way.

Facing rising costs, in March 2011 the Zimmermans installed a shiny new fixture they say will enable them to continue to stay in business regardless of electricity rates.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is holding a series of public meetings across Arizona on proposals for renewable energy development.

Three meetings are scheduled next week in Phoenix, Flagstaff and Kingman. Two others are scheduled in Yuma and Tucson next month.

A panel of senators today approved legislation to bar the Arizona Corporation Commission from adopting renewable energy standards that are more stringent than what is currently in place.

Many consider the bill an attempt by lawmakers to assert control over the state’s energy policy, but critics said it infringes on the commission’s constitutional authority to set rates for public utility companies.

A bill that would give the Legislature a say over energy rules adopted by the Arizona Corporation Commission is being scaled back.

An amendment proposed for consideration by a Senate committee Wednesday would rewrite the bill approved by the House.

Environmentalists fear that the Arizona Corporation Commission may waive its stringent energy efficiency standards rather than approve a power-cutting plan submitted by Tucson Electric Power and scheduled for a vote Friday.

A new solar power project is planned near the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station west of Phoenix. KTAR-FM reports the Arlington Valley Solar Energy 2 project will generate an estimated 127 megawatts of power when commercial operations start. That’s enough power to supply 25,400 homes.

While touring a solar power generating station that will provide power to tens of thousands of Arizona homes, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday that America’s embrace of renewable energy will create jobs and boost the economy.

The federal government has approved the Sonoran Solar Energy Project, which will be built on public lands in Maricopa County near Buckeye.

The Arizona Supreme Court is letting stand lower court decisions that uphold the state’s requirement that regulated electric utilities get some of their power from solar and other renewable sources.