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Up to 75 Megawatts of Wind Power to be Bought from PPM Facility in Solano County
The California Public Utilities Commission approved Pacific Gas and Electric Company's contract to purchase up to 75 megawatts (MW) of wind energy from PPM Energy's Shiloh I Wind Project in Solano County. "Clean, renewable wind power is a key element in PG&E's plan to provide reliable, environmentally responsible energy for California," said Fong Wan, vice president of power contracts and electric resources development. "These new wind energy resources approved today will supply enough power to serve more than 50,000 of our customers," Wan added.
With this agreement, PG&E has met its annual goal of increasing its renewable purchases by a minimum of 1% of retail load. PG&E has a long history of developing, generating, and purchasing renewable power. The utility currently supplies 31% of its customer load from renewable resources: 18% from its large hydroelectric facilities and 13% from small hydro and other renewable resources that qualify under California's Renewables Portfolio Standards (RPS) Program. In total, nearly 50% of PG&E's retail load is served from generating resources that have no CO2 emissions that contribute to global warming.
"Clean, renewable wind power is a key element in PG&E's plan to provide reliable, environmentally responsible energy for California," said Fong Wan, vice president of power contracts and electric resources development. "These new wind energy resources approved today will supply enough power to serve more than 50,000 of our customers," Wan added.
With this agreement, PG&E has met its annual goal of increasing its renewable purchases by a minimum of 1% of retail load. PG&E has a long history of developing, generating, and purchasing renewable power. The utility currently supplies 31% of its customer load from renewable resources: 18% from its large hydroelectric facilities and 13% from small hydro and other renewable resources that qualify under California's Renewables Portfolio Standards (RPS) Program. In total, nearly 50% of PG&E's retail load is served from generating resources that have no CO2 emissions that contribute to global warming.
PG&E is currently seeking offers for the sale of renewable energy under its 2005 RPS solicitation. In the current solicitation, the Company is seeking an additional 1 - 2% of its retail load. Offers are due September 15, 2005. For the RPS solicitation protocol and forms, visit http://www.pge.com/renewablesrfo.
Since PG&E began its RPS Program, it has entered into 13 contracts for 443 MW of renewable energy, enough power to serve more than 325,000 customers. California's program requires each investor-owned utility to increase its procurement of eligible renewable generating resources by 1% of load per year to achieve a 20% RPS goal.
For more information about Pacific Gas and Electric Company, please visit the company's web site at www.pge.com