Dive Brief:
- San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) wants to buy up to 633 MW of capacity from a planned NRG Energy natural gas peaking plant to meet demand in southern California, according to a new filing with the state's Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
- SDG&E is looking for more generation after the closing last year of the San Onofre nuclear plant and in anticipation of the scheduled retirement of the 965 MW Ecina power plant, also owned by NRG Energy, by the end of 2017.
- In the filing with the PUC, SDG&E said it needs to secure new generation by the end of 2017 if it wants to maintain reliable service. The new NRG peaker plant is projected to come online in November 2017.
Dive Insight:
The California PUC has already approved 800 MW-worth of new local capacity by 2022 for SDG&E, which must include at least 200 MW of clean energy and/or energy storage.
SDG&E said that the new NRG plant is the only "conventional resource that is far enough through the development process to meet" the utility's needs. Any other generation resources, such as a new renewables, would take too long to come online to keep the electricity supply reliable in the face of plant closures, according to the utility.