PG&E Corp’s (PCG) San Francisco-based utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. announced on Thursday that it will buy and operate a large wind-generating farm slated to be built in Southern California, from the U.S. branch of Iberdrola Renovables, Inc., a Spanish renewable energy company.
The project, called the Manzana Wind Project, would generate up to 246 megawatts of wind power, and is PG&E’s first wind project. The plant is projected to have an annual output of up to 670 gigawatt-hours, which is enough energy to fuel 100,000 homes, the company said in a statement.
"This agreement supports PG&E's comprehensive strategy to meet our customers' future power needs with clean energy solutions," said Fong Wan, PG&E's senior vice president for energy procurement, in a press release.
This project will help PG&E to meet California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, a mandate requiring all utilities in the state to provide a third of their power from renewable resources by 2020. The company said the project will cost just over $900 million, including development and construction payments to Iberdrola.
Rates will increase by 1.1 percent in 2012 compared to 2009, for customers receiving power from the utility, PG&E said. The average residential customer is likely to see monthly rates increase by 25 cents.
Shares of PG&E Corp. rose 22 cents or 0.51% in Thursday’s session, to close at $43.53 a share and was up another 9 cents in trading after-hours.
