Business View Magazine | October 2020

374 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020 and enjoy the swap meets and rock shows in Quartzsite. They enjoy the extensive off-highway vehicle trails. They just like being out in the desert when the weather’s nice.” “We have the Desert Bar out in the middle of the desert here in La Paz County,” says Tonya Hoogerwerf, Director of Community Development. “It’s fully off-grid—it went solar. That’s also a very popular tourist destination.” Producing renewable energy is something the County, as a whole, feels very strongly about. “One of our latest projects is the 6,000-acre parcel of land that we recently acquired from the Bureau of Land Management,” shares Wilson. “We have a world class solar developer who has an option to lease that entire project to put in photovoltaic solar.” The photovoltaic solar farm will be out there on the east end of the County,” says Hoogerwerf. “One study listed us one of the top six locations in the U.S. with the cleanest air,” adds Drake. “You can see why solar developers are looking here. We’re currently developing the solar project which will be the largest single site solar development in the United States, with two additional similar sized projects planned adjacent to our site and expect to have over 1.6 gigawatts of battery storage. That’s what’s going to make this site unique—our ability to store that, as well as create over two gigawatts of solar generation and deliver power via the Ten West Link transmission project.” Drake also says they’re ready, willing, and eager to welcome data centers over in La Paz County: “We think that’s going to be a big market for us.” Another unique aspect that gives the County an advantage in recruiting industries over its competition is its geographical location. “Our location is ideal,” insists Wilson. “If you’re looking to serve Southern California, metropolitan Phoenix, or Las Vegas, we’re within a one-day turnaround of all three of those markets. In fact, several of the successes we’ve had have been