Sonoma to consider the purchase of electricity from Calpine
Calpine Unit 3, Sonoma Power Plant. Source: Loettahuro (Panoramio.com)
Alexander Richter
18 Kas 2013
The purchase of electricity from Calpine would represent around 10% of all the electrical power of Sonoma Clean Power
The public power agency from Sonoma County, Sonoma Clean Power is considering at the moment to increase a part of its supply from geothermal sources. These would come from the Geysers, the largest geothermal complex worldwide which are situated in its county’s borders. The supplier of energy would be Calpine, the owner of the power plants in the aforementioned area and would account for 10 % of all the energy supply of Sonoma Clean Power or 18 MW.
According to the news source, there is no disclosure on the exact pricing level per Megawatt-hour, but it is to be expected to be at par or even below the average price of what Pacific Gas & Electric Co. at “9.72 cents per kilowatt-hour, or $972 per megawatt-hour.” The same news source explained that “The proposed agreement with Calpine is separate from the agency’s current negotiations for a primary power supply contract, and would contribute significantly to its goal of launching with a baseline electricity mix of at least 33 percent renewable energy on May 1.”
Regarding the primary contract, there are 3 other companies who are in the shortlist for the 3 year term contract; Constellation Energy, NRG Energy and Direct Energy. The local government through the Sonoma Clean Power Authority will give the decision to go forward with the contract or not on the 21st of November, however, the ” staff have been pre-authorized to go forward with the separate primary contract without full board approval, with a decision expected in the coming weeks.”
Source: North Bay Business Journal Website
