Think Regionally, Act Regionally
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Only a few regions will capture the bulk of good jobs in the coming solar economy. Here’s why a clean energy economic partnership between Austin and San Antonio not only makes sense, but may in fact be indispensable for either of us to capture significant cleantech jobs.
All together now…
The summer after my junior year in college, I attended Army officer training at Fort Bragg, NC. (I went to college on a full scholarship from the Army, and this was one of my obligations.)
Officer training was challenging, and not just because Fort Bragg is located in a sweltering, tick-infested lowland pine forest. Our trainers pushed us physically and mentally, including live ammo drills, days on end with no sleep and demanding physical training.
One particularly hot afternoon, our platoon was conducting tear gas exposure drills in gas masks and chemical warfare MOP suits. As we moved rapidly away from smoking tear gas canisters, our trainer instructed the rear most platoon member to feign passing out.
Our platoon immediately swung into action. The platoon leader instructed the cadet behind me to pick up our prostrate brother. The trainer immediately blew his whistle.
“You’re down,” he barked, pointing to the cadet who had picked up his fellow soldier. He ordered both cadets to lie down on the ground.
The other eight of us shared confused glances through our gas mask lenses. The platoon leader ordered me and another cadet to pick up our fallen comrades. The trainer blew his whistle again.
“All four of you – out.”
We were thoroughly baffled now. The sweat and heat was building inside our MOP suits and gas masks. The platoon leader hesitated, then directed four more cadets to carry one of us each. The trainer blew his whistle again.
Everything stopped. We turned with confusion and annoyance to our trainer.
“I was testing your teamwork,” our trainer said.
When it’s hot like this, he explained, you need several soldiers to share the load of carrying a downed soldier. If any of us tried to carry a fallen comrade alone, the strain would be too great for that soldier, he would fall behind and slow the platoon, and we would all fail.
“For the mission to succeed,” he concluded, “you have to work together.”
Capture the Sun. Capture the jobs, too.
There is now a broad consensus nationally that clean energy –particularly solar – represents the next great economic opportunity.
The nation’s most prominent venture capitalist, John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins, describes clean energy as the “largest economic opportunity in the 21st century.”
According to MIT’s Technology Review, investment in solar companies is surging. Both economically and from an energy standpoint, the magazine concludes, “The potential of solar power is enormous.”
In Austin, solar is now considered a major business opportunity for many of our semiconductor employers.
Just as with every major economic opportunity in history, only a few regions will capture the bulk of good jobs in the coming solar economy. In the 1980’s, by purposefully pursuing leadership in the technology economy, Austin became one of the dominant regions for the global semiconductor industry. We know from firsthand experience that a better future doesn’t happen by accident.
So how can Austin become not just a solar leader, but a solar jobs leader?
For two major reasons, Austin’s best chance to become a clean energy jobs leader is to partner with another major emerging clean energy city. That city is San Antonio.
There are two key factors necessary to lead in the clean energy economy - creation of markets, and research and development innovation.
When it comes to innovation, Austin is currently leading the Pecan Street Project, a clean energy R&D public-private partnership modeled on SEMATECH. Through the Pecan Street Project, Austin is poised to innovate in developing the technologies that will be critical to making solar as reliable and economical as conventional energy.
But as New Mexico’s success in luring solar manufacturing demonstrates, creation of local markets is also crucial for generating jobs – particularly when it comes to emerging manufacturing sectors.
Harvard economist Michael Porter, an expert on competitiveness and regional economic development, writes that creation of local markets is important for a region to establish leadership in an economic sector. Austin economist Jon Hockenyos has reached the same conclusion.
Even with our significant local commitment to clean energy, Austin lacks the market size to become a nationally significant market. But by partnering with San Antonio and the utilities and communities in between, we can together create a nationally significant solar energy market – and we can leverage that market power to bring good jobs throughout the region for people of all skill levels.
San Antonio and Austin are two of the nation’s four largest municipally owned utilities. In between Austin and San Antonio are the Pedernales Electric Coop and the Bluebonnet Electric Coop. PEC is the nation’s largest electric coop, and Bluebonnet is a nationally significant coop with arguably the most technologically advanced metering and distribution of the four.
A partnership for our region would need to respect certain principles. We would need to recruit employers together. All communities in the region would need to share in the jobs created by this partnership. And for the partnership to be effective in creating market power, the utilities and coops in the region would likely need to partner on solar purchases.
Acting separately (and in competition with each other), none of us can create a nationally significant market. Together, these cities and public utilities can become a major clean tech market that would be larger than New Mexico’s.
If we have the vision to work together in building a regional solar economy, not only will our electricity be cleaner and our air clearer. We can also repurpose our existing semiconductor jobs into solar jobs, create new manufacturing and green collar jobs throughout the region and provide our community with a legacy of environmentally responsible electricity.
We can do this. We have a responsibility to try.
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