Southern California Edison (SCE), the nation’s largest purchaser of renewable energy, said it signed a wind energy contract that will provide the utility’s customers with a new source of emission-free power.
The agreement with Alta Windpower Development LLC, a subsidiary of Allco Financial Group Inc. of Australia, a financial-services company, is the largest wind-energy contract ever signed by a U.S. utility.
The deal secures approximately 1,500 megawatts (MW) of power generated by new projects to be built in the Tehachapi area of California.
With the signing of this contract, SCE will be able to provide renewable energy to serve about one million homes.
SCE also signed a new contract with Chateau Energy to purchase 15 MW of power from a biomass facility in the Mesquite Lake area of Imperial County.
The company will submit the procurement contracts to the California Public Utilities Commission, which will decide whether they are reasonable commitments to make on behalf of SCE’s customers. Upon completion, this renewable transmission project would be capable of delivering 4,500 MW of electricity, enough energy to supply almost three million homes.
SCE said it currently serves about 17 percent of its customers with renewable energy.