PG&E Corporation and SeaWest WindPower, Inc., will be constructing a new wind facility near Palm Springs, California. It is expected that the facility will generate enough energy to meet the needs of 25,000 homes when it reaches commercial operation in April 2001.
The San Gorgonio Pass—the site of several wind energy installations in the early 1980s—will be the location for the new 44.4-megawatt facility. SeaWest will build the facility; then PG&E Corp. will purchase it. Legislation passed in 1997 made wind projects more practical, and further legislation is under consideration. Like PG&E Corp.’s wind facility in New York State, the power from the California project will be sold into the electrical grid as regular power, and the environmental benefits of the power will be sold separately as wind energy “certificates” to provide flexibility and value to customers. For more information, visit PG&E’s site at www.pgecorp.com/news or DOE’s site at www.eren.doe.gov.
