To achieve a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions at the lowest cost that could promote sustainable development under the Clean Development Mechanism project, the Southwest Energy Alliance, a non-profit trade association has advocated for the coordinated development of clean energy projects in the Southwest U.S.

According to a press release, coordinating development of strategic power transmission assets, power storage, clean backup generation, demand response, and energy dispatch in the vicinity of vast renewable energy resources, members of the Alliance will help the U.S. achieve energy independence and jump-start economic revitalization in the Southwest.

Alliance members are also working with other electric utilities and transmission developers engaged in building the new power transmission resources that will be required to transport clean energy to customers across the U.S.     

The Southwest Energy Alliance will focus on the cost-effective development of clean and abundant energy resources. It will showcase how, by coordinating the deployment of wind, solar and the cleanest fossil-fueled power generation projects with strategically situated power transmission, storage and delivery dispatch technology, the combined efforts will become much more efficient and cost-effective than would be the case with piecemeal deployment.

Alliance member companies plan to tie together wind and utility-scale solar power plants as well as clean, gas-fired generation, gas pipelines, and energy storage projects using advanced battery, superconductor power cable, HVDC converter and other technologies. Many companies are involved with the Tres Amigas Project in New Mexico, which focuses on interconnecting the country's three primary electric transmission grids to enable the faster adoption of renewable energy and increase the reliability of the U.S. grid.

Jeff Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee said that improving nation's energy infrastructure will not only create good jobs, it is key to our ability to shift to clean, homegrown energy. This new alliance is poised to make a serious contribution on both of these fronts.

Peter Esposito, Alliance president said that the Southwest Energy Alliance will be a catalyst for change in the way clean energy is developed and delivered to consumers.