Earlier this week, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet toured the Vestas Wind Towers plant—the world's largest such manufacturing facility—in Pueblo to to witness innovation (Pueblo Chieftain [2]), but he could just as well have visited a KB Home development. The company announced it will start offering solar-power systems as a standard home feature at 10 developments in California, building on a concept that's been an option in KB's Colorado homes for several years (BusinessWeek [3]). The systems will generate enough electricity to cut energy costs for homes by slightly less than a third.

That's the kind of marketplace progress that's sure to interest Shaun McGrath, who as of April 1 will become the executive director of the American Solar Energy Society (Daily Camera [4]). McGrath resigned as Boulder mayor about two years ago to become the White House's deputy director of intergovernmental affairs.

As solar shines across the state, Vestas is tied up in a U.S. District Court in Denver over shareholder accusations that the company inflated its stock value (Colorado Springs Gazette [5]).