Edison International and Sempra Energy utilities in Southern California were cleared to buy as much as 1,500 megawatts of electricity to replace the power lost when the San Onofre nuclear plant shut in 2012.
Sempra’s San Diego Gas & Electric Co. was authorized by the California Public Utilities Commission today to secure 500 to 800 megawatts, with at least 175 coming from “preferred resources” such as solar, wind and energy-efficient sources and 25 from energy storage. [175/800 = 22%; and that's about the state mandate.]
Edison’s Southern California Edison in Rosemead was approved for 500 to 700 megawatts, with at least 400 from preferred sources. Environmental groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club had argued that all additional power should come from renewables and other clean sources, saying the alternative would lead to more emissions-intensive power such as that produced by natural gas-fired plants.
“I wish we could do 100 percent preferred resources,” Michael Peevey, president of the commission, said at the panel’s meeting in San Francisco today. “We just don’t have it in the timeframe necessary to ensure economic well-being, prosperity and keeping the lights on in Southern California.”The market is flat, slightly negative, and yet a fair number of energy-related stocks, especially utilities are doing very, very well. Nothing like a cold winter, a cold war, and cold reality to help the utilities:
- cold winter: global warming
- cold war: Ukraine
- cold reality: California buying natural-gas produced electricity; renewable energy math doesn't add up
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