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Group Says Solar Power Could Meet U.S. Energy Needs

An environmental group says California could generate enough energy from solar power plants to meet current electricity needs. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has details.

Group Says Solar Power Could Meet U.S. Energy Needs

An environmental group says California could generate enough energy from solar power plants to meet current electricity needs. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has details.

Environment California says its new report on solar energy shows the Golden State and the rest of the country have the potential to tap the sun for power. 

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Jason Barbose works on global warming issues for Environment California.

He says the source of that power would come from large solar plants capable of generating energy to use when the sun isn't shining.

Barbose: We think that by 2030 we could easily power 25 million homes with solar power from large power plants with leadership at the state and federal level and the right policies in place.

But he says federal solar investment tax credits are expiring at the end of this year because Congress did not include them in the last energy bill. 

Barbose says those credits help make newer technologies cost-effective, but without them solar and other clean energy projects may grind to a halt.

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Ed Joyce, KPBS News.