December 18, 2002—San Diego City Council has approved contracts to provide San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) with renewable energy from city-owned biomass facilities, as part of the utility’s push to add more renewable resources to its customers’ power-supply mix.
SDG&E has signed contracts with 11 suppliers, including the City of San Diego, for 15 renewable energy projects that will produce nearly 4 percent of its expected customers’ electricity needs for 2003; these contracts will supply approximately 7 percent of SDG&E’s customer needs in 2004. The contracts range from five to 15 years in length.
Renewable energy is power derived from environmentally renewable sources such as solar, wind, biomass, geothermal and hydro. Biomass refers to power generated from processes such as burning agricultural waste, sewer gas or methane generated from trash.
Today, San Diegans receive the bulk of their power from two sources: long-term energy contracts—most of which rely on natural gas-powered generation—signed by the state’s Department of Water Resources during the energy crisis; and SDG&E’s few remaining generation assets, including a 20 percent interest in San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
SDG&E will begin directly purchasing the remaining amount of its customers’ needs on Jan. 1. A large portion of those needs will be met using power from new projects, which will increase the amount of renewable energy available in the region and the state.
For more information, contact SDG&E.
