Nov 23 2010
PG&E, a California based company, has signed a Solar Power Purchase Agreement with a Joint Venture Company, consisting of Renewable Energy and a private firm, Summit Power Group. A PG&E subsidiary unit, Pacific Gas & Electric, has requested permission from State regulators to implement the contract and recoup the expenses from their customers.
The Solar Plant would be constructed by REC‘s North Star Solar and Bainbridge’s Summit Power. This plant is being built in Mendota, California which is around 40 miles to the West of Fresno. It will utilize REC’s solar panels as per the documents submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission. According to PG&E, the solar plant would begin operations by June 2013.
Normally outlay for contracts of this nature is not revealed, but PG&E disclosed that the power price surpasses the CPUC’s price of 10.2 cents per kilowatt hour, and also attracts extra fees for power generated during the peak demand daylight hours. The state’s regulations state that PG&E and other Utilities in California must use wind or solar or other renewable sources of energy for generating one-third of the power they would sell by 2020. This is mainly to fight against climate change