News | Energy Efficiency

http://www.newenergyworldnetwork.com/renewable-energy-news/by-technology/solar/southern-california-edison-connects-largest-investor-owned-solar-project.html

As power utilities in the US make moves to increase their adoption of renewable power in an effort to meet renewable energy portfolio standards, Southern California Edison (SCE) has connected the largest investor-owned solar plant to its Central Valley power grid.

The new plant, which is the utility’s first ground-mount photovoltaic (PV) installation, covers 32 acres of land the utility has leased from the city of Porterville in California.
It adds five million watts of peak capacity – enough power to serve 3,250 average homes – to SCE’s network of 11 solar stations.
Construction and testing of the solar array near the Porterville Municipal Airport took about six months and created 125 jobs.
The utility said the new Central Valley solar station is connected directly to the utility’s neighborhood power circuits and will benefit all of its customers in that region.
‘Our hope when we launched SCE’s solar PV programme was that it would help California achieve its ambitious renewable energy goals, while increasing industry knowledge about solar PV efficiency and interaction with local distribution circuits,’ said Mark Nelson, SCE’s director of generation planning and strategy.
In addition to building its own network of up to 50 solar stations, SCE is about to sign power purchase agreements with independent producers willing to construct a similar number of solar plants collectively. It estimates that these combined installations will create some 1,200 jobs.
SCE is an Edison Electric company and lists its shares on the New York Stock Exchange.