ROSEMEAD, California, US, March 14, 2007.
Southern California Edison delivered 12.6 billion kWh of renewable energy last year, enough to serve 1.8 million homes for the year.
Geothermal was the major source of green power, at 7.5 b-kWh, with 2.45 b-kWh of wind. Small hydro supplied 0.95, biogas (from landfills and digesters) was 0.75, solar was 0.60, while biomass (agricultural solids and wood waste) delivered 0.35 b-kWh.
The 12.6 billion kWh represented 16.7% of the total power delivered under California's renewable portfolio standard guidelines in 2006 and the level led the U.S. The utility purchases one-sixth of all U.S. green power for retail sale, including 90% of all the country’s solar generation.
SCE signed the largest wind energy contract ever completed by a U.S. utility in December, which secures 1,500 MW of power from new turbines to be installed in California’s Tehachapi area. The contract envisions 50 square miles of windfarms in the Tehachapi region, triple the size of any existing U.S. windfarm.
SCE continues to work toward meeting the goals of California's renewable portfolio standard. By 2010, it expects to have contracts which, when fully operational, will represent 20% of its energy needs.
The utility also announced that it will launch its 2007 competitive solicitation for additional renewable power contracts, its fifth since 2002. Previous solicitations have secured 25 renewable energy contracts with maximum future annual power generation of 13 billion kWh, enough electricity to serve 1.9 million homes (the actual output of green power may be limited due to weather conditions and transmission availability, the utility notes).
“We are once again in the market offering long-term contracts to companies developing renewable power projects to serve our customers,” says Pedro Pizarro. “We see renewable energy procurement as one of several ways our industry can reduce GHG emissions.”
SCE will solicit contacts of 10, 15 or 20-year terms from developers of projects using solar, wind, biomass, geothermal and small-hydro. Proposals will be due by May, and SCE expects to submit completed contracts for regulatory approval by December.
The utility is also developing new transmission lines to connect green power resources in Tehachapi to the high-voltage grid. Earlier this month, the California Public Utilities Commission approved the first stage of a US$1.7 billion transmission project that is the first major transmission project in California to tap renewable energy in remote areas. SCE believes the Tehachapi region has the potential to provide 4,500 MW of green power, and expects to begin construction of the project later this year.
A subsidiary of Edison International, Southern California Edison serves a population of 13 million in a 50,000 square mile service area within central, coastal and southern California.
