Utility defends transmission line at hearings
The California Public Utilities Commission hearings began in San Diego and will move to San Francisco. They are scheduled to run until early May.
SDG&E's Chief Operating Officer Michael Niggli said the line will help the utility comply with a state requirement that 20 percent of its electricity come from renewable energy sources, like solar and wind, by 2010.
The executive was pressed for details on how the transmission line will deliver on its promise of renewable energy and whether the company considered other routes.
The commission is expected to vote on the project later this year.
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Ontario will not renew electricity deal with Quebec
TORONTO - The Ontario government does not plan to renew the Ontario-Quebec Electricity Trade Agreement, Radio-Canada is reporting.
The seven-year contract, which expires next year, aims to reduce Ontario's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by buying 2.3 Terawatt-hours of electricity from Quebec annually — that corresponds to about seven per cent of Hydro-Quebec's average annual exports.
The announcement comes as the provincially owned Quebec utility continues its legal battle over a plan to export power to Massachusetts.
The Ontario agreement has guaranteed a seasonal exchange of energy, since Quebec has a power surplus in summer, and the province's electricity needs increase in the winter.…