Edison gets approval for solar plants
The California Public Utilities Commission approved the 20-year contract between Rosemead-based Edison and eSolar Inc., a Pasadena-based renewable energy start-up financed by Google.org, Idealab and Oak Investment Partners. The contract calls for Edison to purchase up to 245 megawatts of electricity from solar power plants built by eSolar in the northern Antelope Valley.
The power plants will use mirrors to focus sunlight on towers containing water. The water is heated and turned into steam, which powers turbines and generates electricity.
The first of these solar power plants is set to come online in early 2012.
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Wind power making gains as competitive source of electricity
TORONTO - It's taken a decade of technological improvement and a new competitive bidding process for electrical generation contracts, but wind may have finally come into its own as one of the cheapest ways to create power.
Ten years ago, Ontario was developing new wind power projects at a cost of 28 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), the kind of above-market rate that the U.K., Portugal and other countries were offering to try to kick-start development of renewables.
Now some wind companies say they've brought generation costs down to between 2 and 4 cents — something that appeals to provinces that are looking to…
