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According to Market Watch of the Wall Street Journal earlier today, Sempra Generation has brought its first 8-megawatt block of solar panels online at Nevada's Copper Mountain Solar facility. Electricity generated at the Boulder City facility will be sold to Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and not to San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E).
Once completed, Copper Mountain Solar will generate 48 megawatts of clean electric power for PG&E, but none to SDG&E. Apparently, none of the electrical power transmitted requires the completion of SDG&E's Sunrise Powerlink project. Both Sempra Generation and SDG&E are holdings of San Diego-based Sempra Energy.
SDG&E is currently in last place among California investor owned utilities (IOUs) in attempting to meet state alternative energy generation standards.
PG&E's contracts with Copper Mountain Solar and nearby El Dorado Solar (also operated by Sempra Generation) appear to have been factors in PG&E's costly Proposition 16 campaign to restrict competition from municipal consumer choice aggregation (CCA) options in IOU service areas. Voters failed Proposition 16 in the June primary at a campaign cost to PG&E of well in excess of $28 million. According to Ballotpedia, "PG&E, which reported a $1.22 billion profit in 2009, has notified its shareholders that the cost of contributions to the 'Yes on 16' campaign will amount to about 6-9 cents per share of the stock." PG&E and other IOUs were recently warned by state regulators against making any false advertising against CCA options proposed by California towns and cities as more-affordable consumer power alternatives (see DECISION MODIFYING DECISION 05-12-041... below).
In other related alternative energy news, California's Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) recently granted permission for SDG&E, PG&E amd Southern California Edison to cooperate and negotiate wholesale power procurement agreements with the experimental Hydrogen Energy California project. According to the CPUC decision issued on June 8, such cooperation is necessary "to induce public and private investment in alternative energy technologies capable of meeting goals for clean energy to meet future demand from California’s consumers" (see DECISION ON PETITION... below). CPUC hopes that the project "helps California meet clean energy goals and comply with legislative greenhouse gas requirements because it produces electricity with only modest increases of greenhouse gas."
Both CPUC's Division of Ratepayer Advocates and The Utility Reform Network will assist CPUC in monitoring IOU activities related to the hydrogen energy project.
According to Market Watch of the Wall Street Journal earlier today, Sempra Generation has brought its first 8-megawatt block of solar panels online at Nevada's Copper Mountain Solar facility. Electricity generated at the Boulder City facility will be sold to Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and not to San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E).
Once completed, Copper Mountain Solar will generate 48 megawatts of clean electric power for PG&E, but none to SDG&E. Apparently, none of the electrical power transmitted requires the completion of SDG&E's Sunrise Powerlink project. Both Sempra Generation and SDG&E are holdings of San Diego-based Sempra Energy.
SDG&E is currently in last place among California investor owned utilities (IOUs) in attempting to meet state alternative energy generation standards.
PG&E's contracts with Copper Mountain Solar and nearby El Dorado Solar (also operated by Sempra Generation) appear to have been factors in PG&E's costly Proposition 16 campaign to restrict competition from municipal consumer choice aggregation (CCA) options in IOU service areas. Voters failed Proposition 16 in the June primary at a campaign cost to PG&E of well in excess of $28 million. According to Ballotpedia, "PG&E, which reported a $1.22 billion profit in 2009, has notified its shareholders that the cost of contributions to the 'Yes on 16' campaign will amount to about 6-9 cents per share of the stock." PG&E and other IOUs were recently warned by state regulators against making any false advertising against CCA options proposed by California towns and cities as more-affordable consumer power alternatives (see DECISION MODIFYING DECISION 05-12-041... below).
In other related alternative energy news, California's Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) recently granted permission for SDG&E, PG&E amd Southern California Edison to cooperate and negotiate wholesale power procurement agreements with the experimental Hydrogen Energy California project. According to the CPUC decision issued on June 8, such cooperation is necessary "to induce public and private investment in alternative energy technologies capable of meeting goals for clean energy to meet future demand from California’s consumers" (see DECISION ON PETITION... below). CPUC hopes that the project "helps California meet clean energy goals and comply with legislative greenhouse gas requirements because it produces electricity with only modest increases of greenhouse gas."
Both CPUC's Division of Ratepayer Advocates and The Utility Reform Network will assist CPUC in monitoring IOU activities related to the hydrogen energy project.