The company is soliciting 10, 15 or 20-year contracts from all interested developers of renewable energy projects – including small hydro. Proposals will be due to SCE by 22 September 2006. Interested parties can download details of the request for offers at www.sce.com/renewrfp or my clicking on the weblink below.
To answer bidders questions, SCE will host a proposal conference on 10 August 2006 at a location to be announced on the company’s website.
‘To meet our customers’ future energy needs, we are again in the market offering long-term contracts to companies developing cost-effective renewable power projects,’ said Pedro Pizarro, SCE Senior Vice President of Power Procurement. ‘This solicitation reflects our continuing commitment to environmental stewardship, to reduced reliance on fossil fuels, and to hedging against volatile natural gas prices.’
While continuing to pursue new renewable energy sources, SCE is also working with state officials to remove barriers renewable project owners face in developing their projects. SCE believes a recent California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) decision represents an important step in linking new projects to California’s electrical grid. The new policy state regulators adopted at their 15 June meeting addresses one of the most significant obstacles to renewable project development in California – how to pay for expensive connections between new major renewable resource areas and distant utility high voltage power grids.
Current transmission cost recovery rules, established by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), require renewable project developers to pay fully for transmission connections to utility high-voltage grids, even if theirs is the first of several projects that will eventually use such connections. As a result, many smaller projects remain on the drawing boards waiting for others to fund the transmission projects.
The new CPUC decision authorises utilities to initially pay for the needed transmission projects, charge renewable generators for transmission service for their share of the cost under rates approved by FERC, and recover the reasonable remaining costs from customers.
‘While some of the details of this new policy remain to be worked out, we believe it is a step in the right direction,’ said SCE Senior Vice President of Transmission and Distribution, Ron Litzinger. ‘This decision will help resolve transmission funding issues and remove a major impediment to the interconnection of renewable generators to the grid.’
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