I wrote this story for Grist, where it first appeared. Are Californians forking over too much green for green energy? A new report from a ratepayers advocacy group found that the price of electricity in 59 percent of renewable energy contracts signed by the state’s three big utilities exceeded the market price referent, or MPR [...]
Archive for the ‘solar energy’ Category
Report: Californians paying too high a price for green energy
Posted in alternative energy, green policy, PG&E, San Diego Gas & Electric, solar energy, solar power plants, Southern California Edison on February 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
SolarCity buys East Coast’s biggest home solar installer
Posted in renewable energy, solar energy, SolarCity, Sungevity on February 17, 2011 | 1 Comment »
photo: SolarCity I wrote this story for Grist, where it first appeared. California solar companies are continuing their eastward expansion, with Silicon Valley’s SolarCity on Wednesday acquiring the residential operations of one of the East Coast biggest solar installers, groSolar. With the acquisition, SolarCity, California’s largest residential solar installer, will move into Massachusetts, New Jersey, [...]
Southern California Edison signs another big solar farm deal
Posted in renewable energy, solar energy, solar power plants, Southern California Edison on February 10, 2011 | 1 Comment »
I wrote this story for Grist, where it first appeared. Southern California Edison on Wednesday announced another big photovoltaic power plant deal, this time to buy electricity from a 250-megawatt solar farm to be built by First Solar. Add that contract to 831 megawatts’ worth of photovoltaic power purchase agreements the Los Angeles utility signed [...]
Solar gets big and cheap in California
Posted in Amonix, renewable energy, solar energy, solar power plants, Southern California Edison on February 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I wrote this story for Grist, where it first appeared. Earlier this week, I wrote about the green evolution in California regarding electric cars. Well, when it comes to solar energy, it’s starting to look more like a revolution. This week, utility Southern California Edison asked regulators to approve 20-year contracts to buy 250 megawatts [...]
China moves into U.S. solar power plant market
Posted in solar energy, solar power plants, Southern California Edison, Suntech on February 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
In The New York Times on Friday, I write about how Suntech has become the first Chinese solar company to win a major U.S. power plant contract: Suntech, the Chinese solar giant, has won a contract to supply photovoltaic panels for a 150-megawatt project in Arizona, marking China’s entry into a lucrative United States power-plant [...]
Report: U.S. utility-scale photovoltaic industry set to boom
Posted in alternative energy, NRG Energy, solar energy, solar power plants on January 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I wrote this story for Reuters, where it first appeared on November 30, 2010. With NRG Energy’s announcement on Tuesday that it will invest $450 million investment in a California photovoltaic project, the New Jersey-based power provider has pledged a total of $750 million for big solar plants in the past two months. A new [...]
NRG to acquire SunPower solar farm for $450 million
Posted in environment, NRG Energy, renewable energy, solar energy, solar power plants, SunPower, Uncategorized, tagged NRG Energy on January 20, 2011 | 2 Comments »
I wrote this story for Reuters, where it first appeared on November 30, 2010. A subsidiary of NRG Energy on Tuesday said it will invest up to $450 million in a 250-megawatt photovoltaic power plant to be built by Silicon Valley’s SunPower on the central California coast. The New Jersey-based power provider, which operates a [...]
Calico solar project delayed, enviros may sue over wildlife
Posted in alternative energy, solar energy, solar power plants, Tessera Solar on November 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
photo: Tessera Solar I wrote this story for Reuters, where it first appeared: The California Energy Commission has temporarily withdrawn approval of a controversial solar power plant by NTR’s Tessera Solar after opponents protested that the 663.5-megawatt Calico project had been improperly licensed. California aims to get a third of its electricity from renewable energy [...]
Utility makes big bets on solar technology
Posted in alternative energy, Amonix, solar energy, solar power plants, Southern California Edison on November 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
photo: Amonix I wrote this story for Reuters, where it first appeared: As solar panel prices have plummeted over the past year, photovoltaic power plants have become a more attractive option for utilities under pressure to meet renewable energy targets. Case in point: Late last week utility Southern California Edison announced it had signed contracts [...]
