California Public Utilities Commission
505 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS RELEASE

Media Contact: Terrie Prosper, 415.703.1366, news@cpuc.ca.gov Docket #: Res-E-4188

CPUC TAKES ANOTHER STEP TOWARD RENEWABLE ENERGY GOAL WITH APPROVAL OF EDISON CONTRACT

SAN FRANCISCO, December 4, 2008 - The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today approved a new solar thermal energy contract for Southern California Edison, continuing the state's commitment to renewable power.

The table below provides a brief description of the project:

Generating Facility	Type	Term Years	MW Capacity	GWh Energy	Online Date	Location
Gaskell SunTower	Solar thermal, new	20	105 - 245	220.8-515.1	April 2012	Kern County

The Gaskell project will be a new solar thermal facility developed by eSolar Inc., a renewable energy start-up financed by Google.org, Idealab, and Oak Investment Partners. Gaskell is the first solar thermal project that Edison has executed a contract with since the start of the Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) program. eSolar's unique concentrating solar power technology is based on existing solar tower technology, but is designed to be more modular and scalable to reduce overall costs. The technology has yet to generate electricity at a commercial scale, but is currently building a demonstration project in Southern California.

The CPUC's RPS program, one of the most ambitious renewable energy standards in the country, requires Investor Owned Utilities, Energy Service Providers, and Community Choice Aggregators operating in California to obtain 20 percent of their retail sales from renewable energy sources by 2010.

For more information on the CPUC, please visit www.cpuc.ca.gov.

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