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PG&E Offers Solar Program Focused on Rural Applications
By Dan Geis
April 2009
In hopes of adding new renewable power to their energy portfolio, PG&E has proposed to build 250 MW of solar power. Half of this power would be owned and operated by the utility on their land, while 125 MW of the power would be owned by third-party operators and/or customers. PG&E has specifically cited their desire to place these projects on agricultural and rural land.
Most of the projects would be between 1-10 MW in size (the average 1 MW installation takes up approximately 4-6 acres). In filing this application, PG&E has stated they will pay an average price of 26 cents/kWh for the energy (this price will be adjusted for time of use, with peak-summer production paying a substantially higher amount). In almost all instances is higher than the cost of purchasing energy from the utility to operate irrigation pumps or other facilities on agricultural rates.
The program would operate very similar to existing Feed-in tariffs, in that the CPUC would pre-approve the terms and conditions of the long-term contract, and customers or businesses would be free to execute those contracts on a first-come, first-serve basis. Unlike net-metering, this energy would solely be used for export, and could not be utilized on-site to offset load.
The CPUC is currently considering the application, and is expected to rule on the application by late 2009.

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Agricultural Energy Consumers Assocation
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