Until now, visions of Arizona homes powered by renewable energy have centered mostly on rooftop solar panels or huge solar power plants in the desert.

The Bureau of Land Management on Monday put aside nearly 21,000 acres of public land near Yuma for the next two years while it studies its potential for use as a solar energy site.

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.

A panel of lawmakers tasked with reviewing tax breaks balked Wednesday at providing a tax credit for installing solar energy devices on residences and voted to recommend its repeal.

Two other programs, including one that gives tax credits to corporations for contributions to groups that provide tuition scholarships to children attending private schools, were given a favorable review.

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.

The state’s second-largest utility provider says it’s closing in on an agreement to buy power from a wind farm on land owned by the Navajo Nation.

On several policy matters like climate change and health care, Arizona often butts heads with the U.S. government.



But step outside the Capitol mall, and you’ll see a modern building with solar panels on its rooftop.

The Arizona Corporation Commission today approved a waiver for a western Arizona utility to receive renewable energy credits for energy generated by a Phoenix-area waste-to-energy plant.

A proposal to reverse a federal ban on new mining claims near the Grand Canyon survived a committee vote Tuesday and could go to the full House as early as next week.