Rick Weddle: Welcome to “Site Selection Matters,” where we take a close look at the art and science of site selection decision-making. I’m your host, Rick Weddell, President of the Site Selectors Guild. In each episode, we introduce you to leaders in the world of corporate site selection and economic development. We speak with members of the Site Selectors Guild, our economic development partners, and corporate decision-makers to provide you with deep insight into the best and next practices in our profession.

In this episode, we have as our guest Will Hearn, Director of Site Selection and Real Estate for Origis Energy, one of the largest independent utility-scale solar developers in the United States. Today, Will talks with us about solar power generally, and the economic development implications of solar power more specifically. Join me as we welcome Will Hearn to “Site Selection Matters.” Will, energy and economic development go hand in hand. Without a reliable and cost-effective energy source, economic growth isn’t really possible. Take a minute, if you will, and help our listeners understand how growth in solar power is impacting economic development overall.

Will Hearn: Well, thank you, Rick, and thanks to the Guild for taking an interest in solar. I think there are many areas where the economic development community can engage and should take an interest in solar, and obviously, energy is a key underpinning for site selection and economic development. But just in terms of broad overview, I mean, solar as a generation resource is still a relatively small proportion of the overall energy generation in the U.S., but it is growing significantly. Coal plants are being retired, solar is very cost-effective, and I think one of the things to remember is, you know, one of the things that we’re really seeing interest in is companies themselves seeking sources of renewable energy. And I think that that aspect is becoming more of a site selection issue, is where can certain types of industries source and procure renewable energy on their own, and so solar is a big piece of that.

So just in terms of the broad perspective, that sort of where solar, I think, fits into some of the economic development questions that are out there today. I do think there are…you know, it’s funny whenever I sit down at table talk at the Site Selectors Guild conference, there’s rarely a table that I sit at where Origis is not taking an interest in securing assets for solar or where we may have solar resources currently generating energy. So, I think, in some ways, solar is new to the economic development world, but I would encourage all of the listeners to this podcast to take an interest in solar and learn more about it and understand how it fits into their economic development plans.

Rick: Very interesting. Will, let’s just hold that just a second, let’s dive a little deeper into the solar power business generally because you mentioned that it’s very cost-effective. How does the cost of today’s solar power systems compare to more traditional fossil fuel systems?

Will: Well, keep in mind, at Origis, we’re mainly utility-scale solar and distributed-system solar. So, you know, we’re not doing the residential housing. We’re talking about systems that power large megawatt systems for utility companies. So, you know, when I first got involved in solar, probably back in ’06, I mean, it wasn’t really something that we thought about, you know, measuring energy resources in the co