July 2, 2007

Utility adds valuable “baseload” renewable generation to industry leading portfolio

ROSEMEAD, Calif., July 2, 2007 - Southern California Edison (SCE), the nation’s leading purchaser of renewable energy, has signed six new renewable energy contracts that could provide the utility’s customers with up to 480 megawatts1 of low-carbon generation – enough power to serve 314,000 average homes.

The agreements, subject to approval by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), include two valuable “baseload” geothermal contracts with Ormat and Caithness.  Baseload projects produce power around the clock and therefore contribute significant amounts of energy.  Two new wind contracts tap wind resources in Apple Valley and a promising new source of wind energy in the Baja Peninsula of Mexico, the latter with new California renewable provider Sempra Generation.  Additionally, SCE has signed a baseload biomass contract based on a new power contracting option the utility introduced in May 2007 to help smaller biomass generators.  Finally, solar energy was added to the portfolio through a photovoltaic proposal.

“We applaud our suppliers’ commitment to renewable energy,” said Stuart Hemphill, SCE’s director of renewable and alternative power. “The clean power generated as a result of these contracts will contribute significantly to California’s ambitious greenhouse gas reduction and renewable energy goals.”

New SCE Renewable Contracts

Company  Location  Type  Length   Initial Megawatts  Potential Megawatts
Rumorosa Baja, Mexico Wind  20 yrs  200.0  250.0
Ormat Nevada Imperial County, CA Geothermal  20 yrs  50.0  100.0
Granite Wind, LLC Apple Valley, CA Wind 20 yrs 42.0  81.0
Caithness Dixie Valley Dixie Valley, NV Geothermal  20 yrs 50.0  50.0
L.A. County Sanitation Palos Verdes, CA Biomass  10 yrs 1.4 1.6
California Sunrise I California City, NV Photovoltaic 20 yrs 1.0 1.0
Total 344.4 483.6

         

The new contracts result from SCE’s 2006 competitive renewable energy solicitation. SCE plans to seek approval of the agreements from the CPUC in the near future. For more about SCE’s renewable energy program, go to www.sce.com/renewables.

Related Facts
- SCE leads the nation in renewable power delivery, procuring about 13 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable energy per year, more than any U.S. utility.

- SCE currently serves between 16 percent and 17 percent of its customers’ needs with renewable energy. The utility continues to work toward meeting the goals of California’s renewable portfolio standard. By 2010, SCE hopes to have contracts which, when fully operational, will represent 20 percent or more of our customers’ energy needs.

- Prior to SCE’s new bio-energy initiative, California biomass projects with generating capacities between 100 kilowatts and 1 megawatt had limited opportunities to sell their energy.  SCE’s new Biomass Standard Contract opens the door for these projects, and it provides a faster, simpler way for biomass projects below 20 megawatts to sell their power to utility customers.

- SCE’s renewable portfolio currently has the ability to deliver more than 2,700 megawatts of electricity. Recent contracts added to the portfolio will increase its capacity when they begin to operate. The current portfolio includes:

  • 1,021 megawatts from wind.
  • 892 megawatts from geothermal.
  • 354 megawatts from solar.
  • 221 megawatts from biomass.
  • 128 megawatts from SCE-owned small hydro.2
  • 95 megawatts from independently owned small hydro.

1One megawatt is enough power at a point in time to serve 650 average homes in SCE’s service area.
2Six of the 36 hydroelectric projects SCE operates today have generated power for more than a century.

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An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of more than 13 million via 4.8 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within central, coastal and Southern California.