The way we power our life is changing, little by little. Not always for the better, but this time, it’s looking up. TEP is beginning to transition from non-renewable energy to wind and solar power at the 100-megawatt Wilmot Energy Center on the city’s southern limits.

This project, stretching over 1,000 acres, includes 30 megawatts of battery storage that will store solar power for when the sun goes down. This will be able to help power most of Tucson using only renewable energy. NextEra Energy is in charge of this project, which also stores rechargeable battery packs to use when the sun goes down. And to top it all off, a 250-megawatt project in New Mexico should go online and start powering TEP customers. TEP has also dedicated some of its output to the University of Arizona campus, to provide them with 100% clean energy.

With Wilmot and Oso Grande online, TEP will have approximately 630 MW of wind and solar resources, with ones other planning to go online soon. The 99 MW Borderlands Wind Project, being built south of New Mexico, is expected to be in service within the end of the year. This will help generate approximately 70% of its energy from renewable resources and plans to cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2035, as they attempt to transfer to completely renewable energies.

However, even with all this good news, Tucson Electric Power will still only get a quarter of its energy from renewable resources. They’ve been focusing mainly on getting the new projects up and running, but they still have a ways to go if they want to be completely renewably sourced. But, unlike some, I have complete faith that they will be successful and able to help save our planet from the damage we have caused. Undoubtedly, this will be a difficult task. This much is true. But, as the great Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Nothing worth doing is easy.”

I have every bit of faith in our community and our species that we will be able to repay the earth for all our ancestors have given us by taking from it, because this isn’t where it ends. We are also making huge solar and hydro-powered energy farms that will help us live life to the fullest while keeping the world alive for another few generations at least.