CAL UTILITIES BUY GEOTHERMAL

California regulators approve two geothermal power deals
James Cartledge, May 10, 2010 (BrighterEnergy)

"California regulators have approved geothermal energy power deals involving utilities Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).

"Edison was cleared by the California Public Utilities’ Commission for a 20-year power purchase agreement with Nevada company Ram Power, Inc., to buy energy from the Orita geothermal power plant, a new facility in the Imperial Valley."

click thru for the complete presentation

"The Orita 1 facility is expected to produce 50 megawatts of power initially, but may be expanded to 100MW and more. Drilling got underway in March…The facility could produce around 400 gigawatt-hours of energy a year from 2013…[T]he Commission also allowed Edison to go ahead with two further agreements with similar terms and conditions with Ram Power…

"…[T]he Commission also approved a PPA between PG&E and the Geysers Power Company, part of Calpine Corporation, which will add 50MW of geothermal power from the Sonoma and Lake Counties area of California to PG&E’s renewables portfolio."

The Geysers - one of California's richest New Energy regions. (click to enlarge)

"The agreement extends the existing 375 MW contract between the two companies. With the new PPA, PG&E will receive between 2,000 and 3,500 GWh of renewable energy through 2022.

"Californian utilities are stretching to provide 20% of their electricity from renewable sources by the end of this year, rising to 33% by 2020."