SAN DIEGO, April 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) today announced that it has signed five new renewable power purchase agreements for a total of nearly 62 megawatts (MW) of solar and wind energy.  Two of these contracts, for a total of 27 MW of solar power, will be located in San Diego County.

SDG&E signed two contracts for a total of 14.7 MW with TerraGen Development Company, LLC for two wind projects located in Kern and Riverside Counties, and a 20 MW solar contract with E.ON Climate and Renewables, LLC for a facility to be built in Kern County.  Finally, SDG&E signed a 7 MW solar contract with Northlight Power and another 20 MW contract with Silverado Power, LLC; both of these solar photovoltaic projects will be located in San Diego County.

For the second year in a row, SDG&E surpassed the 20 percent mark in renewable power in proportion to overall power sales.  In 2012, approximately 20.3 percent of the energy delivered to retail customers was provided by renewable energy sources, such as wind, geothermal, biomass, hydroelectric and solar facilities.  In 2011, the company reported renewable energy deliveries representing a total of 20.8 percent.

SDG&E signed 13 renewable contracts in 2012 and 23 contracts in 2011 for a total of 36 renewable contracts totaling over 1,750 MW of generation capacity over the past two years.  These contracts put SDG&E in a position to maintain California's 20 percent renewable portfolio requirements in the 2011 to 2013 time frame and achieve the 25 percent renewable power requirement by 2016.  SDG&E is on track to meet or exceed the state's mandate that 33 percent of its retail sales be produced from renewable energy projects by 2020.

"After starting with less than one-percent renewable energy in 2002, SDG&E put an aggressive course of action in place to obtain competitively priced renewable power for our customers to meet California's renewable requirements," said James P. Avery, SDG&E senior vice president, power supply.  "This has resulted in a well-balanced renewable portfolio that encompasses a broad spectrum of energy sources including solar, wind, biomass, biogas and geothermal energy."

The first large scale renewable energy project developed in San Diego County since 2006—the 26 MW NRG Solar Borrego Project—went into commercial operation on February 12.  SDG&E also has six projects currently under construction in the Imperial Valley, including the Ocotillo Express Wind Project, which connected to the Sunrise Powerlink last December.  These Imperial Valley contracts were made possible due to the construction of the Sunrise Powerlink, put into service last June, providing renewable developers in Imperial County a way to make new projects a reality. 

For more information on SDG&E's progress towards achieving renewable goals and developments please visit SDGE.com/RenewableFuture.

SDG&E is a regulated public utility that provides safe and reliable energy service to 3.4 million consumers through 1.4 million electric meters and more than 860,000 natural gas meters in San Diego and southern Orange counties. The utility's area spans 4,100 square miles. SDG&E is committed to creating ways to help customers save energy and money every day. SDG&E is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego. Connect with SDG&E's Customer Contact Center at 800-411-7343, on Twitter (@SDGE) and Facebook.

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SOURCE San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E)