Southern California Edison (SCE) recently signed contracts for about 259 megawatts of power, enough to power more than 168,000 average homes.

ROSEMEAD, Calif., [WorldofRenewables.com]

Twenty of the contracts are for electricity produced by solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, and one is for 19.5 megawatts of wind power. The bulk of the projects are from Silverado Power, a solar PV firm based in San Francisco. Those installations will be ground-mounted in Lancaster and Victorville.

The contracts are a result of SCE’s 2010 Renewables Standard Contracts request for offers, a voluntary renewable procurement program for small projects that SCE has operated for several years.

“As the nation’s leading utility for renewables, it is with great pride that we partner with these independent producers to provide emission-free power to Southern Californians,” said Marc Ulrich, SCE’s vice president, Renewable and Alternative Power. “We view these agreements as a win for business, a win for our customers, and a win for the environment.”

The independent power producers are responsible for any permitting and conducting environmental impact studies in accordance with local, state and federal jurisdictions. There will be minimal transmission upgrades to accommodate the projects.

It is expected that in 2010, SCE will deliver between 19 and 20 percent of its energy from renewable resources under California’s Renewables Portfolio Standard guidelines. In 2009, SCE delivered 13.6 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable energy – 17 percent of its customers’ total energy needs.

Since 2002, SCE has entered into 105 contracts that will generate up to 31.2 billion kilowatt-hours per year of renewable energy. SCE is the nation’s leading purchaser of solar power, and in 2009, procured approximately 79 percent of all U.S. solar, 51 percent of geothermal and 5 percent of wind generation for its customers [are these numbers “power” or “energy”?]. For more about SCE’s work in renewables, please visit www.sce.com/renewables.

About Southern California Edison
An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of nearly 14 million via 4.9 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and Southern California.