The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) last week approved renewable energy contracts for Southern California Edison (SCE) (NYSE: EIX) and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)(NYSE: PCG).
Through its 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Ram Power, Inc. (RPG.TO) and Orita Geothermal, LLC, SCE will procure renewable generation from a new geothermal facility in Imperial County, Calif. The Orita 1 facility has an expected initial capacity of 50 megawatts (MW), which may be expanded to 100 MW. This facility should produce approximately 400 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy per year beginning in 2013. The CPUC also authorized SCE to execute two additional PPAs with similar terms and conditions for future projects from these developers.
In addition, the CPUC approved a PPA between PG&E and the Geysers Power Company, LLC that adds 50 MW of geothermal capacity from the geothermal resource area in the Sonoma and Lake Counties in Calif., to PG&E’s renewable energy portfolio. The PPA also extends the delivery terms for 375 MW already under contract. Under the PPA, PG&E will receive between 2,000 and 3,500 GWh of Renewables Portfolio Standard-eligible energy through 2022.
The CPUC’s Renewables Portfolio Standard program requires investor owned utilities, energy service providers, and community choice aggregators operating in California to obtain 20$ of their retail sales from renewable energy sources by 2010.
On November 17, 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger signed an Executive Order (S-14-08), which established a 33% by 2020 RPS goal.
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