Stable Green Power | Green Energy News

August 24, 2003 – Vol.8 No.22

STABLE GREEN POWER.

There’s a list of reasons why an electric utility company would, could or should include renewables in its portfolio of power generating sources. It has to by law. It has customers willing to buy renewable energy. It wants to show itself a responsible steward of the environment. Or, the stable predictable cost of renewable energy makes good business sense.

(In particular, energy purchased from wind, solar, geothermal and landfill gas sources is often at a fixed price for the contract period. A stable price is easier to manage than the price swings of natural gas for instance.)

All of the above are the likely reasons why Southern California Edison has announced that renewable energy sources now make up as much as 23 percent of its total monthly power sales.

SCE, being one of California’s three investor owned utilities, under the ruling of California Senate Bill (SB) 1078 must increase their procurement of electricity generated from renewable sources annually by 1 percent of retail sales until a target of 20 percent is reached by 2017.

SCE has reached and exceeded that target 14 years early. Still, SCE must keep seeking new renewable energy sources. If the economy grows, as it will over time, more power will be needed to meet demand, and SCE will have to keep up with it. The company has issued a Request For Offers (see Requests for Proposals and Funding Opportunities, below) to purchase additional green power. Visit SCE at http://www.sce.com/