Thursday, May 13, 2010

PG&E, NRG Change Power Pact To Use Solar Panels, Not Thermal (NRG; PCG)

Interesting for a couple reasons. Why?
My second question was "Who will supply the PV?"
From the Wall Street Journal:
PG&E Corp.'s (PCG) utility said Tuesday that it has revised a power contract with NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) to use solar panels instead of solar-thermal technology for a solar farm planned north of Los Angeles.

In June, the companies announced a deal in which NRG agreed to provide PG&E with 92 megawatts of solar-thermal power, using technology developed by eSolar Inc., from a solar farm planned near Lancaster, Calif., about 70 miles north of Los Angeles.

In a filing with the California Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday, PG&E asked to replace that contract with a new one, in which NRG has agreed to provide 66 megawatts of solar power generated from solar panels. The solar farm will be built at the same location, near Lancaster, and start delivering power by March 31, 2012, PG&E said.

The contracted power price wasn't disclosed, although it's above the CPUC's 2009 benchmark price for such contracts, about 10.9 cents a kilowatt-hour, plus additional fees for deliveries during peak-demand times....MORE