Southern California Edison Signs Six Renewable Power Deals - 7/3/07

Edison International's utility Southern California Edison announced Monday it signed six new renewable energy contracts for 483.6 megawatts of low-carbon power generation.

The new deals are part of a push by Edison to raise the proportion of energy it receives from renewable sources to 20% by 2010 from 16% to 17% now. Edison, based in Rosemead, Calif., is one of the top U.S. providers of retail renewable power, supplying about 13 billion kilowatt-hours of renewables per year.

By far the largest contract is a 250-megawatt wind power purchase from a project in Baja California, Mexico, jointly developed by Sempra Generation, a subsidiary of San Diego, Calif.-based Sempra Energy, and San Diego-based wind power project developer Cannon Power Corp. Capital costs for the La Rumorosa Wind Power project are estimated at $400 million, according to a statement from Sempra.

The two geothermal contracts are with long-time Southern California energy suppliers: a 100-megawatt project in Imperial County, Calif., with Reno, Nev.- based Ormat Technologies Inc.; and a 50-megawatt project in Dixie Valley, Nev., with New York-based Caithness Energy LLC. Edison has six contracts with Ormat for other projects.

Finally, Edison is taking 100 megawatts of power from a planned wind project, Granite Wind LLC, in Apple Valley, Calif., developed by Sierra Renewables LLC. It is also buying 1 megawatt from a solar photovoltaic installation operated by California Sunrise Alternative Energy Development LLC, which will be the largest such project commissioned by the utility, according to Hemphill.

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