PG&E; to tap into solar projects
From the Associated Press
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has signed contracts to buy enough solar energy to power 239,000 homes a year.
The utility said Thursday that it would buy 800 megawatts of renewable energy from subsidiaries of Hayward-based OptiSolar Inc. and San Jose-based SunPower Corp.
The electricity will come from two large-scale solar projects to be built in San Luis Obispo County on the Central California coast.
OptiSolar’s 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farm project is expected to begin delivering power in 2011.
SunPower’s 250-megawatt project also is expected to begin delivery in 2011.
PG&E; says it now has contracts to buy enough renewable energy to provide more than 20% of its future deliveries.
