The event will honor the nonprofit legal aid society's five decades of public service and raise money for its growth.

The event will be at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Springs Preserve, 333 S. Valley View Blvd.

Mark Kennedy Shriver, son of Legal Services Corp. founder Sargent Shriver, will be the featured speaker.

For more information, call Clark County Legal Services at 386-1070.

California is poised to knock Nevada off the map as host to the nation's largest solar photovoltaic array.

Pacific Gas & Electric has contracted with two solar photovoltaic developers to build plants that together will generate 12 times more electricity than the world's largest photovoltaic plant.

The plants will cover more than 12 square miles of former ranch land in the state's central coast region. On a sunny day, they will provide about 800 megawatts of power.

The largest North American solar photovoltaic array is at Nellis Air Force Base and generates about 14 megawatts of power. Spain has a solar photovoltaic plant that can produce 23 megawatts.

Photovoltaic technology is not typically used in large utility-scale projects because of its relatively high cost compared with other solar energy technologies such as concentrating solar power.

OptiSolar and SunPower Corp., which are building the California photovoltaic plants, have refused to disclose the estimated cost of the plants.

The state's largest utility has gone ahead with plans for these plants largely because of a looming deadline on its renewable energy portfolio standard, which requires that 20 percent of the state's electricity come from renewable sources within the next two years.

The plants are not expected to come on line in time to help PG&E meet that standard, but when completed about 2013 they will raise the state's total renewable energy generation to 24 percent of its electric supply.

The Energy Department is pushing building and energy efficiency experts to develop a zero net energy building in the next two decades.

In an announcement two weeks ago, David Rogers, deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency, announced the launch of the initiative along with the establishment of the National Laboratory Collaborative on Buildings Technologies.

The efforts will focus on developing a marketable zero energy building using advanced efficiency technologies and on-site renewable energy generation to offset the increased electric use during business hours.

Rogers said the goal is to design and bring such buildings to market by 2025.

"(The) Commercial Building Initiative and the collaborative are urgently needed to accelerate innovation and market adoption in the field of high performance buildings," Rogers said in a statement. "Now we are bringing to bear the unprecedented collaboration in scientific resources of five national laboratories to bring about the needed transformation of the built environment, lower our carbon footprint in buildings and accelerate commercial deployment of clean, efficient building technologies."

In 2005 commercial buildings used about 18 percent of energy in the U.S. and accounted for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, according to Energy Department information.

Commercial buildings with net zero energy use would be a huge step toward reducing carbon emissions and strain on the energy grid. They would also likely be popular with businesses, which could save thousands of dollars which could be spent on company growth.

The Lied Discovery Children Museum's annual fantasy party is going green in 2008.

The museum's 26th annual fundraiser is lightening its carbon footprint in recognition of the night's honoree, Sierra Pacific Resources, which will receive the organization's great friend to kids award.

The energy utility is being honored for its support of museum, particularly a new "green" exhibit on energy conservation.

The event will be at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 4 at the Mirage.

"Our gala is different because we raise money for programs and exhibits, but we also have fun," said Judy Kropid, the party's co-chairwoman.

More than 500 people are expected to attend the event, which opens with a silent auction of donations from Las Vegas entertainers, businesses and artists from across the nation. There will also be a live auction and a "baby booty paddle raffle."

Money raised will support the museum's operations.

Lied Discovery Children's Museum is a private, nonprofit organization designed to provide vibrant and engaging experiences that ignite a love of lifelong learning in children and their families in the arts, sciences and humanities.

Since 1990, the museum has offered hands-on exhibitions, multicultural performances and creative art and science workshops. It is located at 833 Las Vegas Blvd. North.

For more information about the museum and the green gala, log on to www.ldcm.org.

Southwest Gas has proposed lowering natural gas rates again this fall.

Under the proposed changes, Southern Nevada customers would see an average bill decrease 1.6 percent in the hotter months and 2 percent in the winter.

Northern Nevada customers would see a 3 percent drop in the summer and 3.7 percent in the winter.

The Public Utilities Commission will hold public comment meetings on the proposed change.

The Southern Nevada hearing will be at 6 p.m. Sept. 11 at the Sahara West Library's multipurpose room at 9600 W. Sahara Ave.

Google.org, the nonprofit charitable wing of online search engine giant Google.com, recently announced a major investment in enhanced geothermal systems research and development.

The organization will invest more than $10 million in the technology and mapping of geothermal hot spots.

Enhanced geothermal Systems consist of deep wells drilled miles into the Earth to access the globe's natural heat. Water is then pumped into the holes, heated and pumped out to generate steam, which turns a turbine to create electricity.

Unlike the geothermal energy plants in Northern Nevada, the system does not require that the water already be under the Earth's crust. That means it can be developed almost anywhere.

Like traditional geothermal power, the system can generate electricity 24/7.

The technology is under development in Australia and other places.

For more information, log on to www.google.org.