Pacific Gas & Electric has been named the most solar integrated utility by the Solar Electric Power Assn.
Due to the 85 MW of new solar capacity, Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
(PG&E), San Francisco,
was named the most solar integrated utility by the Solar Electric Power Assn
(SEPA). SEPA believes the report shows utilities are continuing to make major
investments in adding solar electricity into their portfolios.
“This year’s report demonstrates that solar electricity is finally on the
radar screen of utilities across the country,” SEPA Executive Director Julia
Hamm said in a statement. “Solar plants
large and small are ready for significant build-out, and the utility industry
is moving quickly toward mass adoption to meet a variety of business
needs.”
Two other California utilities,
Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric Co., took second and
third place in SEPA’s 2008 Top Ten Utility Solar Integration Rankings .
The report calculates
how much solar electricity was interconnected by the utilities in 2008 and what
was installed cumulatively up through the end of 2008, including both
photovoltaics and concentrating solar power. The survey reported information
from 92 utilities. The results are broken down into several categories
including solar W per customer and total solar MW for 2008 activity. The move
to distributed solar generation projects in which utilities own solar energy
arrays at customer sites, is responsible for the majority of solar power growth
in 2008.
Have thoughts or comments on energy consumption, integration of renewable power, and energy efficiency improvements in America? Visit Michael Ivanovich’s, Consulting-Specifying Engineer’s editor-in-chief, “Give and Take Blog” and read “European energy snobs vs. ugly Americans” .
