Clean energy firms coming to San Antonio

CPS Energy CEO Doyle Beneby is expected to announce Monday the relocation of several clean energy-related companies to San Antonio, bringing hundreds of good paying jobs and establishing a firm toe-hold in the “new energy economy” that Mayor Julián Castro has been pushing since he was first elected.

Beneby said that together, the companies could bring as many as 800 to 1,000 jobs to the Alamo City by 2015, in areas as diverse as LED lighting, electric vehicles, solar-panel assembly or manufacturing, cleaner-coal technology and home-area networks, which work with smart meters to reduce consumer and utility electricity demand.

The companies have also agreed to make additional investments in local education and research and development, Beneby said Thursday in a briefing to the San Antonio Express-News editorial board.

The formal announcement, planned for Monday afternoon, could also include naming the consortium of companies that bid successfully for the right to build another 50 megawatts of solar in San Antonio. The short list had been whittled down to the final two as of last week, Beneby said.

That contract is also expected to include an economic-development component, likely a solar manufacturing or assembly plant to be located here, as well as additional investments in education, research and development.

Beneby also will likely confirm what he's hinted at for months: that the utility will mothball its two oldest coal plants by 2018, freeing up resources to add cleaner sources of electricity to CPS' current mix. To offset some of that loss, CPS is planning its first investment in a cleaner coal technology.

Buzz over the announcement has been building in recent weeks as Beneby has briefed various interested groups; more than 400 people have RSVP'd to Monday's event, which CPS hopes will attract national attention. Last week, he and Castro laid out the utility's plans to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu in Washington, D.C.

The CEO's strategy to leverage CPS' size and status as a publicly-owned utility to attract clean-energy jobs aligns with both the utility's Board of Trustees' Vision 2020, which lays out the utility's path to a lower carbon and more sustainable energy future, and Castro's SA2020, which calls for increased economic competitiveness while embracing sustainability.

“We have an inherent advantage that CPS has not always exploited,” said Beneby, who will mark his first year at the utility in August.

Missions planning for a strong future - San Antonio Express-News

The San Antonio Missions National Historical Park produces major economic benefits to San Antonio and surrounding communities, a recent study from the National Parks Conservation Association found.

The NPCA, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and Los Compadres de San Antonio Missions discussed the findings Wednesday while on a tour of potential improvements at the missions.

At Mission San José, the partners discussed the study, conducted by the University of Texas at San Antonio with input from Bexar County, the Western National Parks Association , and Los Compadres, the missions' fundraising group.

The study said mission portals — gateways using architectural, artistic and landscape design — as well as hike and bike trails, would connect the missions to the San Antonio River.

In 2009, the National Park Service invested $4.8 million to operate the missions and saw a $98.8 million return, which brought in $20 locally for every federal dollar invested, NPCA Texas regional director Suzanne B. Dixon said.

The park had more than 1.7 million visitors in 2009, with 80 percent from outside San Antonio, she said.

“The Bexar Commissioners Court has felt that the San Antonio River going south and connecting the four missions is the most important public works project of our time,” Wolff said.

“For the first time, as this economic report is beginning to show, we really have a cohesive connection between the missions.”

The study found that seven projects could increase the park's impact by 2016, the park service's centennial.

The proposed projects include: a Mission San Juan demonstration farm; a Mission San José day-in-the-life program; restoration of Rancho de las Cabras, the Wilson County ranching outpost of Mission Espada in the 18th century; construction of main river trails and portals; new park headquarters and Mission San José landscape restoration; an expanded park boundary; and increased funding for park operations.

According to the study, if all the enhancements are completed, the projects would support 2,335 jobs and bring $214.5 million throughout the region.

One of the goals is to get visitors to extend their stay in San Antonio, said Susan Chandoha , executive director of Los Compadres.

“By increasing activities here at the park and fulfilling dreams we've had for the national park, whereas a visitor might now spend four to six hours here, we want them to spend two days,” Chandoha said.

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park

Mission San Antonio de Pádua

Voices from the San Antonio missions

Vocabulary of the language of San Antonio mission, California, Vocabulario de la lengua de los naturales de la mision de San Antonio, alta California

A Kid's Guide to Exploring San Antonio Missions National Historical Park