BrightRidge and its partners officially broke ground Tuesday on a solar generating and learning laboratory near the utility’s headquarters at 2600 Boones Creek Road.
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In April 2010, an explosion split the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, setting off an 87-day effort to plug a submerged, leaking wellhead that eventually dumped 3.19 million barrels of oil into the ocean.
It was a devastating event that troubled Johnson City businessman Dick Nelson, who owns Dos Gatos Coffee Bar and Nelson Fine Art & Frames in downtown.
âI started being a little bit more proactive,â he said.
The oil spill spurred him to look for ways to rely more on renewable energy, and today, Nelson has 63 solar panels installed on the roof of his building at 324 E. Main St., which have now been there for about 10 years.