Pacific Gas and Electric Company Cleared to Add New Supply of Clean, Renewable Geothermal Energy

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pacific Gas and Electric Company has received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to move forward with plans to contract for new supplies of renewable power from the Military Pass Road-Newberry (Vulcan) Geothermal generating facility in Newberry, Oregon. The contract will deliver up to 120-megawatts of clean renewable energy under California's Renewables Portfolio Standards (RPS) Program, enough power to serve 90,000 PG&E customers.

"The geothermal power from the Vulcan project further enhances PG&E's diverse supply of clean, renewable energy, and will help ensure that PG&E continues to have one of the lowest rates of air emissions in the country," said Fong Wan, vice president of energy procurement. "The commission's quick approval demonstrates a shared dedication toward accelerating our reliance on renewable power toward the goal of 20 percent by 2010."

PG&E has a long history of developing, generating, and purchasing renewable power. The utility currently supplies 12% of its customer load from renewable resources that qualify under California's RPS Program. In total, about 50% of the power that PG&E delivers to its customers comes from generating resources that emit no carbon dioxide, the primary contributor to global warming.

Since PG&E began its RPS Program, it has entered into contracts for nearly 1,100-megawatts of renewable energy -- wind, geothermal, biomass and hydro resources -- enough power to serve more than 800,000 customers. California's RPS Program requires each investor-owned utility to increase its procurement of eligible renewable generating resources by 1% of load per year to achieve a 20% renewables goal. The RPS Program was passed by the Legislature and is managed by the CPUC and California Energy Commission.

Copyright © 2006 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.

Date: Friday December 1, 5:01 pm ET