The California Energy Commission has rejected a petition by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) for an extension on the construction deadline of Tesla power plant.
The current deadline for the 1,120MW natural gas-fired power plant proposed to be built in a rural area of eastern Alameda County is October 15, 2009.
PG&E took over the Tesla Power Project last year from Midway Power, a subsidiary of Florida Power and Light (FPL). Midway Power filed an application in 2001 for certification for Tesla. Midway Power had to meet construction deadline of June 2009.
After entering into an agreement in July 2008 to acquire Midway Power from FPL, PG&E filed an application with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for expedited approval of a project at the Tesla site for a 560MW power plant, half the size of the certified plant. In November 2008, the CPUC denied PG&E’s application. However, PG&E finalized its purchase of Midway Power from FPL in December 2008.
In April 2009, PG&E filed a petition requesting a five-year extension of the construction deadline, until June 2014. The company argued that a five-year extension of the construction deadline is necessary because it did not acquire Tesla until December 2008 and could not meet the June 2009 construction deadline.
The commission, however, granted an extension of the deadline to September 15, 2009 for the purpose of conducting further proceedings on whether good cause exists for the extension. It also extended the deadline an additional 30 days in September.
Responding to the petition for five-year extension of the construction deadline, the commission said that the petition should not have been considered at all, because the project for which it was filed is undefined and is certainly not the project that was certified, and PG&E has failed to show good cause for an extension of the construction deadline.
According to PG&E, the value of a fully permitted site would be lost if the extension is not granted since substantial commission resources were expended in the certification process and public input was already considered.