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New Southern California Edison Renewable Energy Contracts Increase Nation's Largest Portfolio

Posted on: Friday, 14 December 2007, 21:00 CST

Southern California Edison (SCE), the nation's leading purchaser of renewable energy, has signed two new contracts that could provide the utility's customers with more than 185 megawatts of environmentally friendly generation -- enough power to about 120,000 homes at a point in time.

The 20-year agreements, subject to approval by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), are for geothermal and wind generation.

"We hope to add even more prospective contracts to our renewable energy portfolio from our 2007 competitive solicitation," said Stuart Hemphill, SCE's director of Renewable and Alternative Power. "Renewable energy is important to our power portfolio. We've worked hard to become the nation's leading utility in renewable power, and we'll keep striving to expand our portfolio."

The new contracts result from SCE's 2007 competitive renewable energy solicitation launched on March 12. SCE plans to submit the agreements to the CPUC in the near future for review and approval. SCE anticipates seeking offers for its 2008 solicitation during the first quarter of 2008.

New SCE Renewable Contracts

Company

Location

Type

Minimum Megawatts

Potential Megawatts

Daggett Ridge Wind Farm (an affiliate of AES Corp.)

Barstow, Calif.

Wind

79.5

85.5

Ormat Nevada, Inc.

Imperial County, Calif.

Geothermal

30.0

100.0

Total

109.5

185.5

One megawatt is enough power at a point in time to serve 650 average homes in SCE's service area.

SCE's longstanding commitment to renewable energy

SCE leads the nation in renewable power delivery, procuring about 13 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable energy per year, more than any U.S. utility.

The utility currently serves between 16 percent and 17 percent of its customers' needs with renewable energy. SCE continues to work toward meeting the goals of California's renewable portfolio standard. By 2010, SCE hopes to have contracts in place so that when all of the energy purchased is provided, 20 percent or more of its customers' energy needs will be met with renewable energy.

SCE's renewable portfolio currently has the ability to deliver more than 2,700 megawatts of electricity. Recent contracts added to the portfolio will increase its capacity when energy purchased through those contracts becomes available. The current portfolio includes:

1,021 megawatts from wind.

892 megawatts from geothermal.

354 megawatts from solar.

221 megawatts from biomass.

128 megawatts from SCE-owned small hydro (six of the 36 hydroelectric projects SCE currently operates have generated power for more than a cent).

95 megawatts from independently owned small hydro.

For more about SCE's renewable energy program, go to www.sce.com/renewables.

An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison is the largest electric utility in California, serving a population of more than 13 million via 4.8 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within central, coastal and Southern California.

Source: Business Wire

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