PG&E Corp. Unit Solicits Renewable Power Contracts, Projects

PG&E Corp. (PCG) utility Pacific Gas & Electric said Tuesday it has started soliciting new contracts for renewable energy.

The company is looking for power purchase agreements, agreements with an option to purchase a project after five or 10 years, outright acquisitions of renewable energy facilities, acquisitions of project sites for development of generation facilities, and agreements to jointly own or develop a renewable energy project.

State regulators have asked PG&E and other California utilities to pay special attention to projects in the Imperial Valley, in the southeast corner of the state, where Sempra Energy (SRE) unit San Diego Gas & Electric Co. is building a high-voltage transmission line.

PG&E, San Diego Gas & Electric and Edison International (EIX) unit Southern California Edison are required by state law to use renewable sources for a fifth of the power they sell by 2013. PG&E's request for proposals is aimed at meeting that requirement.

PG&E said last week it signed a contract with a unit of NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) for 92 megawatts of solar-thermal power. The power will come from a plant in Lancaster, Calif., that will use solar-thermal technology developed by privately held eSolar. The plant, slated for completion in 2012, will produce about 192 gigawatt-hours of electricity a year, enough to serve about 30,000 homes, PG&E said.

-By Cassandra Sweet, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-439-6468; [e-mail]