"It's the very same process as coal-fired generation, only instead of burning coal to make heat, you're just using the sun," Wagner said.

He added that scientists are now working to use concentrated solar power or CSP technology for storage of energy utilizing heated liquid in large concrete vats that could produce power 16 or 17 hours per day.

"That's getting close to baseload power just using solar," Wagner said. He added that continued research and technological advances hold great promise for the development of cleaner baseload alternatives in the not-so-distant future.

"Geothermal is very much baseload power," he said. "In the next five years, you're going to see a tremendous increase in geothermal in this state. Much more than you're going to see coal fired power plants."

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