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ELLENSBURG, Wash. (AP) - Gray, gloomy rain. As much as Mount Rainier and salmon, drizzle is the staple image of the Pacific Northwest. The city of Seattle even broke a record last fall for precipitation in one month.
But east of the Cascade Range, where sagebrush blooms in a desert climate, power companies see potential in sunshine. Washington state's oldest utility plans to start building the largest solar project in the region next month, and a municipal utility in a small city known most for its rodeo is enlisting residents' help to expand its energy generation through the sun.
Already, communities up and down the West Coast are taking notice of a trend dampening notions about the Pacific Northwest.
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