Macpherson has been one of the owners of Mt Poso Cogeneration since 1987 and is a managing partner of numerous Kern County oil fields.
Macpherson and DTE Energy Services (DTEES) subsidiaries acquired the Mt Poso plant from its previous partners effective 1 November, and DTEES will operate the plant and co-lead its conversion to biomass.
The Mt Poso plant has a 15-year agreement to sell the biomass energy to Pacific Gas and Electric and this agreement has received necessary regulatory approval from the California Public Utilities Commission.
Macpherson Oil operates the adjacent West Mt Poso oil field, which provides the water supply for the cogeneration plant and produces oil in a thermally enhanced oil recovery operation using steam from the plant.
The wood to fuel the power plant will come from construction waste, tree trimmings and agricultural sources, and construction on the biomass plant begins this week.
