SDG&E Adds More Local Solar Energy to its Renewable Portfolio

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) today announced that it has entered into a 25-year contract with NRG Solar, an NRG Energy Company, to purchase 26 megawatts (MW) of solar energy from a proposed facility in San Diego County, Calif. NRG Solar's new solar facility will be located in Borrego Springs and will produce enough electricity each year to power more than 9,000 homes. This is the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) contract SDG&E has signed for a project that will be sited within its service area. This one project alone will increase the amount of solar power generated in San Diego County by 25 percent. "SDG&E has worked diligently on developing local renewable contracts that will provide clean renewable power to help satisfy our customers' long-term energy needs," said James P. Avery, senior vice president of power supply for SDG&E. "This is a great opportunity to develop local San Diego renewable resources which will help bring us closer to meeting the state's aggressive renewable goals. We hope it's the first of many projects to come." The Borrego Springs project will employ PV technology on a 300-acre site in eastern San Diego County, an area that is ideal for producing solar power due to abundant desert sunlight. Construction on the new solar project is expected to be complete in mid 2012.