The new contract, combined with a 20-year agreement SDG&E signed in May for up to 130 MW of power from the Centinela project, will provide for a combined total of up to 175 MW of clean, renewable energy, or enough electricity for more than 60,000 homes.
‘This contract reaffirms SDG&E’s ongoing commitment to securing renewable resources for our customers in the San Diego region,’ said Matt Burkhart, vice president of electric and fuel procurement for SDG&E. ‘This will also help bring us a step closer to our goal of bringing in 33 percent of renewable energy by 2020.’
Upon completion in 2014, the Centinela Solar Power facility will send solar power to SDG&E’s service territory across the Sunrise Powerlink, a 120-mile, 500-kilovolt electric transmission line which was designed to increase power reliability in the region and tap into the vast renewable resources of the Imperial Valley. When completed in 2012, the new power line is expected to carry up to 1,000 MW of electricity.
‘This is an exciting time in the renewable energy market, and we are looking forward to continuing our work with SDG&E on this project,’ said John King, executive vice president of LS Power. ‘This expansion will not only create jobs during these tough economic times, but it also provides clean energy to SDG&E customers.’
Under the new contract, which runs through 2034, the Centinela Solar Energy facility will employ photovoltaic technology on a 1,350-acre site near Calexico, Calif. At peak, the entire project will generate as much as 175 MW of electricity.
Last month, SDG&E signed an additional renewable contract securing 7.5 MW of wind power from Coram Energy, LLC of Tehachapi, Calif. An application was filed with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on July 30, 2010. The Coram Energy wind farm is located in the Tehachapi Pass in Kern County, Calif. and began generating wind energy in June 2005.
These two new contracts combined add another 52.5 MW of renewable energy generated in California to SDG&E’s portfolio. Both contracts require CPUC approval.
SDG&E is a regulated public utility that provides safe and reliable energy service to 3.4 million consumers through 1.4 million electric meters and more than 840,000 natural gas meters in San Diego and southern Orange counties. The utility’s area spans 4,100 square miles. SDG&E is committed to creating ways to help our customers save energy and money every day. SDG&E is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego.
LS Power is a power generation and transmission group with a proven track record of successful development activities, operations management and commercial execution. LS Power has been involved in the development, construction, or operations of over 20,000 MW of power generation throughout the United States. LS Power is actively developing both power generation and transmission infrastructure to serve the need for new generation and improve the aging transmission system. Highly regarded in the financial community, LS Power has raised over $13 billion to support investment in energy infrastructure since 2005.
Coram Energy is a privately held developer, owner, and operator of wind-powered electric generating facilities focusing on projects in western North America. The company has continuously and successfully operated wind turbines in the Tehachapi Pass wind resource area north of Los Angeles for the last 25 years. The company has additional projects under development in British Columbia and California.
