March 10, 2005
CALIFORNIA
Edison Lines Up New Energy Sources
From Bloomberg News
Southern California Edison Co. said Wednesday that it would seek regulatory approval for contracts to provide as much as 427 megawatts of electricity from renewable sources, or enough to serve about 320,000 typical homes. Turbines that generate power from wind and biodegradable or geothermal sources would be built starting next year if the six contracts are approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, said the Rosemead utility, a subsidiary of Edison International. The contracts represent about as much electricity as one large natural-gas-fired power plant would produce.The state Legislature in 2002 directed Southern California Edison, PG&E Corp.'s Pacific Gas & Electric and Sempra Energy's San Diego Gas & Electric to obtain 20% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2017. State energy officials later accelerated the target date to 2010.Last year, about 18% of the electricity that Edison delivered to its customers, or more than 13,000 gigawatt-hours, came from renewable sources — more than any other U.S. utility, Edison said. Terms of the contracts aren't being disclosed, Edison spokesman Paul Klein said. Western Wind Energy Corp., a wind turbine developer based in Coquitlam, Canada, agreed to sell as much as 120 megawatts to the utility over 20 years from wind farms in Tehachapi in Kern County, Edison said. Other projects include expansion to as much as 100 megawatts of a wind farm in Tehachapi by closely held Coram Energy Group, as well as construction of a 50-megawatt wind farm in San Gorgonio in Riverside County by SeaWest Windpower Inc., a 22.5-megawatt biomass generator in the western Sierra by Silvan Biomass and a 120-megawatt geothermal plant in western Nevada by Vulcan Power Co. Shares of Edison International fell 3 cents to $33.32 on the New York Stock Exchange. They have gained 42% in the last year.
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