Southern California Edison’s newly
announced contract to buy 1,500 megawatts (MW) of wind power from the Tehachapi
area is great news, and potentially historic. This is by far the largest single
contract for renewable energy signed in California.
Once built, this single project would increase California’s wind capacity, already the
second largest in the nation, by 65%.
For those following the wind power
competition between California and Texas, this project, once built, would blow past Texas’s 2,400 MW by bringing California’s total installed capacity up to
3,800 MW. California
currently has around 2,300 MW of wind installed throughout the state.
There are a few key things
that need to happen for this new wind farm to actually supply clean electricity
to California
homes and businesses, however. These are: 1) the federal production tax credit
needs to be extended by Congress in 2007, and 2) California’s utilities, including So. Cal
Edison, need to come together to increase transmission line capacity coming out
of the Tehachapi area so that the power generated by this new wind farm can get
to end users.
Ultimately, this contract is
a sign of the times and of more good things to come. Renewable energy is
finally taking hold as an affordable and mainstream energy resource that is able
to compete with conventional fossil fuel and nuclear power plants. Thanks to
leadership from California’s legislature and
Public Utilities Commission, California
is aggressively building up its homegrown renewable energy resources and
shutting its doors to imported fossil fuels and nuclear power.
For anyone who cares about
breathing clean air, solving global warming and becoming more energy
independent, this 1,500 MW wind contract is really exciting news. Edison should
be applauded and urged to do more along these lines, sooner rather than later,
so that California
can continue to lead the way toward a clean energy future.
