Construction has begun in Southern California on two solar thermal plants for Pacific Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison, that will be providing 2.3 gigawats of solar thermal power. By itself, the Southern California Edison deal is the world largest solar energy deal. The plants being built are bigger, but will be more cost effective to build than most other new plants. These kind of solar thermal plants are cheaper to build than coal plants, cheaper than gas plants, and theye building them a lot faster. As Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental advocate for the past 25 years, has said, nce the plants are up and running, the energy is free forever. We won have to go to Saudi Arabia and drill holes in the ground, then pump the oil up, and then refine it, and then ship...