pg&e

Utility PG&E placing bets in solar tech race

NEW YORK--California utility Pacific Gas & Electric is betting big on solar power but it's still not sure which technology will ultimately win out.

PG&E's senior vice president of energy procurement, Fong Wan, on Tuesday said that the utility has opened up bidding for a 2-megawatt solar photovoltaic array, part of a five-year program to install 500 megawatts worth of solar power in California, one of the biggest programs in the country.

Wan spoke at the Jefferies Global Clean Technology Conference here about the utility's renewable energy and efficiency strategy, offering insights into the hurdles … Read more

California utility PG&E buys big into solar power

California utility Pacific Gas & Electric on Tuesday announced a five-year program to produce 500 megawatts worth of solar energy from distributed solar panels.

Rather than build one giant solar power plant, PG&E plans to generate solar power from a collection of midsize projects, from 1 megawatt to 20 megawatts. This investment will cover half of the total target of power generation.

One megawatt is enough to power one large retail store or roughly 300 homes. A large solar installation at a single business, such as Google's rooftop array and solar carport, can be over 1 megawatt … Read more

California utility PG&E to open wallet for solar

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.--Pacific Gas & Electric, one of the country's largest and most progressive utilities, will invest directly in solar power plants and solar panels distributed in different California communities.

CEO Peter Darbee said the move represents the first time that PG&E--already a large purchaser of solar and other renewable energy technologies--will build and own solar installations. Right now, the utility purchases clean energy from third parties.

Darbee mentioned the solar initiative during a discussion on Wednesday here at the Clean-tech Investor Summit.

He declined to specify how much the investment would be but said that … Read more

Barriers to solar energy's blockbuster promise

MENLO PARK, Calif.--Solar power hasn't swept the nation but it must and will, said members of utilities, clean-tech start-ups, venture capital firms, and academia at the Big Solar conference here Wednesday.

California will literally live up to its "Golden State" nickname and shine as a model for the rest of the country thanks to progressive lawmakers, Silicon Valley dealmakers, and innovators at state and university labs, according to the event's many optimists.

"The time has come in the United States for large-scale solar," said Ed Smeloff, senior manager of utility project sales at … Read more

Will PG&E give rebates for old air conditioners?

That ancient, inefficient heating/air conditioning system in your building might be worth something someday.

Pacific Gas & Electric CEO Pete Darbee said in a briefing with reporters Tuesday that the utility is working with government officials to see if there is a way to create a fund that gives building owners financial incentives to replace old compressors, pumps, and other building equipment with new, energy-efficient versions.

Building owners want to get rid of this old equipment, he explained, but the capital requirements are a big hurdle. The program could be structured in a way so that it could be … Read more

PG&E starts getting gas from manure

The renewable energy industry hits the fan Tuesday in California.

Pacific Gas & Electric and BioEnergy Solutions plans to open a pipeline Tuesday that will deliver methane to the utility from a manure-to-gas facility at a Fresno-area farm. Some farms in California, such as cheese maker Joseph Gallo Farms, and a number in Europe already generate gas from manure, but they also consume it to run their operations. This marks the first time that manure-generated gas will get sold across pipelines in the state.

BioEnergy Solutions owns and operates the digester (the thing that converts the manure into gas), which … Read more

Long power outage a wake-up call to be better prepared

I've just emerged from a brief visit to the 19th century (via a storm-driven 36-hour power outage) and among all my other experiences and impressions during this odd weekend, none was more powerful than an extremely visceral understanding of just how fragile our modern infrastructures are.

This all began when, just as I was about to run out of my Sausalito, Calif., house on Friday morning, I decided to do a quick e-mail check. Oddly, there was no Internet connection, and after a cursory check to see why, I realized that our power was out, a condition that had … Read more

Charging for discharging: PG&E's electric-car potential

Plug-in electric cars have gotten a lot of column inches recently, thanks to the hoopla surrounding the unveiling of Chevy's Volt concept at this year's Detroit auto show. This week, the dream of AC-connected autos took a step closer to becoming reality as utility giant PG&E unveiled a Vehicle to Grid (V2G) technology allowing two-way transfer of electricity between electric vehicles and the grid. The technology, demonstrated at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group Alternative Energy Solutions Summit, would effectively turn idle electric cars into a source of electricity for homes and businesses, taking load demand off … Read more