Major US electricity utility Southern California Edison is poised to finalize six new renewable energy supply contracts subject to receiving government ratification.
Southern California Edison has submitted for review by the California Public Utilities Commission the six new long-term contracts with power generators using wind, biomass, and geothermal energy.
If approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, the contracts would add as much as 427 megawatts to Southern California Edison’s (SCE) renewable power portfolio, already the US’ largest, when construction is completed between 2006 and 2009.
We congratulate the winning bidders in our second major solicitation under California’s new renewable portfolio standard, said SCE CEO Alan Fohrer. These contracts represent a significant step in SCE’s continuing commitment to renewable energy as well as the implementation of the state’s renewable policy.
The successful bidders include: Coram Energy, wind; McCarthy Farms, Biofuels; Imperial Valley biomass; SeaWest, wind; Silvan Biomass, biomass; Vulcan Power, geothermal and Western Wind, wind.
Five of the contracts would result in the construction of new renewable generation capacity at a time when California is attempting to cope with surging population growth and electricity demand. The sixth involves the significant expansion of an existing facility.
We are encouraged that this solicitation process has yielded competitively priced renewable power for our customers requiring no state subsidy, said SCE Vice President of Power Procurement Pedro Pizarro. We will continue to look for opportunities to add to our renewable portfolio.