GWP Gets More Georthermal

Glendale Water & Power continues to receive geothermal energy from its power sales agreement with the Southern California Public Power Authority for a three megawatt share of the Ormat Geothermal Energy Project. GWP will receive approximately 25 gigawatt hours of geothermal energy each year for the next 25 years, for use in Glendale. That is enough electricity to power 3,000 single-family homes annually with clean, green energy though 2032. Currently, GWP is receiving 25 percent of its contracted amount, as production has just started and facilities are still under construction.

“We are very excited about the Ormat Geothermal Project,” Ned Bassin, Power Management Administrator, said in a prepared statement. “The 3 MW share will provide electricity for 3,000 homes and takes us another step toward meeting our goal of 20 percent renewables as a percent of retail sales by 2017.”

With 14 percent of current sales coming from renewable resources, GWP is in line with California’s best performers who are between 10 and 20 percent. In continuing toward its renewable goal, GWP proposed the participation in the Ormat Geothermal Energy Project. The Ormat project will provide energy from two plants located in the geothermal resource areas of Imperial Valley, Calif. With the addition of the Ormat project, approximately 16 percent of GWP’s electric sales will come from renewable power resources. Bassin said the 25 gigawatt hours is equal to two percent of last year’s retail energy sales.

GWP’s participation in the Ormat project will be a power sales agreement with SCPPA of which GWP is a member. SCPPA will purchase the entire output from the two facilities and sell this output to participating SCPAA members.

Senate Bill 1078, signed into law in 2003, requires specific renewable resource requirements for investor owned utilities and strongly encourages local publicly- owned utilities to adopt similar standards. GWP adopted an RPS that encourages renewable resources, while taking into consideration the effect on rates, reliability, financial resources, and the goal of environmental improvement. This is the third renewable energy agreement GWP has signed in the last two years, and will be an important contribution to GWP’s renewable generation goals adopted in December 2003 as part of its Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS).

To meet RPS goals, 20 percent of the power GWP sells must come from cost-effective renewable resources by 2017. The RPS also outlines the strategies for accomplishing the goal through a combination of long-term and short-term projects. GWP is required to report its progress in meeting the 20 percent goal to its customers on an annual basis.

As sales grow, GWP will continue to look for additional renewable generation opportunities as it continues on the road to 20 percent by 2017. Current estimates suggest GWP will need to invest in additional renewable resources capable of providing another 49 gigawatt hours a year to meet its RPS goal.

Glendale Water & Power is the City of Glendale’s utility. Glendale Water & Power generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to 75,341 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Glendale. The city-owned utility also provides water to 32,500 customers. www.glendalewaterandpower.com