So Cal Ed signs biggest U.S. wind contract

Stuart Hemphill, director of renewable and alternative power for So Cal Ed, said the deal is flexible to allow for capital costs -- including for land and wind turbines not yet in hand -- to be incurred by the joint venture Alta Innovative Power Co.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, due to the competitive power sales market, said Hemphill.

The So Cal Ed-Allco agreement calls for 20 years of sales starting with the first day of operation of each of the "sub-projects," which are scheduled to all be in operation by about 2016.

The Tehachapi area now has wind farms capable of generating 730 megawatts of power with expectations that the area will produce about 4,500 megawatts of power in 10 years.

The success of the project will depend on the completion of a proposed Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project So Cal Ed wants to build to bring 4,500 megawatts of wind power from the Tehachapi region, including from projects not associated with So Cal Ed. That project is awaiting approval of the California Public Utilities Commission and is scheduled to enter operation around 2010, said Pedro Pizarro, So Cal Ed senior vice-president of power procurement.

So Cal Ed is the second-largest electric utility in California. Like other big utilities in the state, it signs agreements to buy wind power rather than own the wind farms.

Allco is also developing wind projects in New Zealand and Australia.

At the end of 2005, 17 percent of So Cal Ed's electricity delivered was generated by using renewable sources such as wind power.