Salt River Project has signed a five-year agreement to purchase wind power and related renewable-energy credits from Public Service Co. of New Mexico, marking the East Valley utility's entry into the growing wind-energy market.

Tom Patterson: The Arizona Corporation Commission, peering far into the future, has determined 15 percent of our state’s energy must come from renewable sources by 2025. They’re willing to put your money behind their decision, too.

WASHINGTON - The painful collapse of the housing market along with the credit crunch will weigh down economic growth in the final three months of this year and cause economic activity to lag in 2008.

A local entrepreneur hopes to shake up the energy drink market. Chandler-based businessman Erik Rothchild said his fledgling company, WheyUP LLC, is the first to offer a protein shake and energy drink in one can.

Code Electric, a 43-yearold Tempe-based electrical contractor, has launched a new solar systems business to serve the growing interest in solar energy in Arizona.

The 14th annual Energy, Utility & Environment Conference will be held from Jan. 31-Feb. 2 at the Phoenix Convention Center.

Consumers upset about gas prices, as well as those advocating higher taxes to drive down demand, now have another example of the free market being the correct answer.

The power shift in Congress will bring a “completely different world” in energy policy with an increased emphasis on climate change, renewable energy and energy effi ciency, according to participants at the fourth-annual Arizona Energy Summit sponsored by the Arizona Association of Industries Thursday at the Pointe South Mountain Resort in Phoenix.

Renewable energy is all the rage these days. With gasoline prices rising, with greenhouse gases and global warming at the forefront of public concern, the lure of pollution-free energy from windmills, photovoltaic solar panels and geothermal wells has never been stronger.

Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman is minutes away from throwing out the first baseball at a spring training game when longtime Councilman Ben Arredondo suspects something is seriously amiss with the city's top elected official.Arredondo reminds the mayor that it's 3 p.m. on a warm day. He stares in disbelief when he spots what Hallman is about to sip.

NEW YORK - Wall Street pulled back Monday following Microsoft Corp.'s decision to withdraw its bid for Yahoo Inc. and a jump in oil prices to a new record - over $120 a barrel.

NEW YORK • Investors examine the same key economic reports at the start of every month — on manufacturing, the service sector and employment. This week, they’ll look at these indicators for inflation clues as much as they will for insight into economic growth.

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NEW YORK - Investors fell deeper into their morass of fear about terrorism and war with Iraq Wednesday, sending stocks lower for a second straight day.

Michelle Lee is a master in marketing and a master — with a capital “M” — in martial arts. The 39-year-old Tempe business entrepreneur and tae kwon do black belt master instructor owns and operates one of the more successful martial arts academies in the Valley.

Farmer Jeff Scott can remember many a long afternoon when he sat alone on the plaza at Dr. A.J. Chandler Park, offering his fresh-picked vegetables to a handful of regular customers and an occasional passerby. Solitude isn’t so much of a problem these days. The Willcox-area farmer’s bins of onions, squash and greens are the heaviest-hit attraction all night long at the Downtown Chandler Farmers Market.

Solar is getting hotter every day.

PARIS - Suez SA and state-owned Gaz de France plan to form a global energy giant that they say will be better placed to compete against players such as Russia's OAO Gazprom.

WASHINGTON - The sharp spike in energy prices that occurred after the Gulf Coast hurricanes will act as a drag on the economy although the impact on growth and inflation will not be as severe as the oil shocks of the 1970s, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said.

SAN FRANCISCO - No stranger to sequels, California Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger hopes to sell the state on the virtues of electricity deregulation for a second time, despite the expensive legacy of the first attempt.

Even before construction has started on a solar energy farm in Queen Creek, the planned facility has been sold for $75 million.