PG&E purchase in TehachapiPG&E Agrees to Purchase and Operate Major California Wind Energy Project
Release Date: December 3, 2009
Contact: PG&E External Communications (415) 973-5930
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today announced that it has contracted with Iberdrola Renewables, Inc.,the U.S. arm of the world's largest provider of wind power, to purchaseand operate a major wind generating plant to be built in SouthernCalifornia to serve the utility's electric customers.
The proposed Manzana Wind Project, with a power capacity of up to246 megawatts, would be the first wind project owned by PG&E. Itfollows a proposal by the utility in February, 2009 to develop and own 250 MW of solar photovoltaic power.
The Manzana project would be located on about 7,000 acres in theTehachapi region of Eastern Kern County, a site with favorable windresources. If approved by the California Public Utilities Commission,the project could begin producing power by December 2011.
With a projected annual output of up to 670 gigawatt-hours per year,equal to the energy consumed by about 100,000 average homes, theManzana project would contribute significantly to PG&E's efforts tomeet California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard.
"This agreement supports PG&E's comprehensive strategy to meetour customers' future power needs with clean energy solutions," saidFong Wan, PG&E’s senior vice president for energy procurement.
The total capital cost of the Manzana project will be just over $900million, which includes payments to Iberdrola Renewables to develop andbuild the facility, along with other costs that PG&E will incur.PG&E will make progress payments as significant milestones are met.
Rates for customers who receive electric generation, transmissionand distribution services from the utility would increase 1.1 percentin 2012 compared to 2009. The average residential customer, whoconsumes 550 kilowatt-hours per month, would pay
.25 more permonth—from $74.13 to $74.38.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG),is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities inthe United States. Based in San Francisco, with 20,000 employees, thecompany delivers some of the nation's cleanest energy to 15 millionpeople in northern and central California. For more information, visit PG&E About page.