3. Mariposa Power Purchase Agreement
D.07-12-052 adopted a long-term procurement plan for PG&E, Southern California Edison Company (SCE), and San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) that provides direction on the procurement of resources over a 10-year horizon, from 2007 through 2016. The Commission authorized PG&E to procure 800-1200 megawatts (MW) of new resources (including fossil fuel resources) by 2015 and provided specific instructions:
To support the types of needs we anticipate in a [greenhouse gas] GHG-constrained portfolio and to replace the aging units on which some of this authorization is based, we require PG&E to procure dispatchable ramping resources that can be used to adjust for the morning and evening ramps created by the intermittent types of renewable resources. Preference should be given to procurement that will encourage the retirement of aging plants, particularly inefficient facilities with once-through cooling, by providing, at minimum, qualitative preference to bids involving repowering of these units or bids for new facilities at locations in or near the load pockets in which these units are located. (Emphasis in original, footnote omitted.)2
The Mariposa Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) is a 10-year fuel conversion agreement3 for dispatchable energy and capacity from four combustion turbines. The anticipated initial delivery date is July 1, 2012. The Mariposa Energy Project is expected to be located in Alameda County near Byron, CA. It will be delivered to PG&E's Kelso 230 kilovolt (kV) substation and has a capacity of 184 MWs under peak July conditions. According to PG&E, the project received a high ranking in several areas, including market valuation, portfolio fit, credit, participant qualification, project viability, technical reliability, environmental leadership, and conformance with PG&E's non-price terms and conditions.
2 D.07-12-052 at 103. PG&E also has additional procurement authority related to prior solicitations, because two PPAs were terminated by the sellers. The Bullard Energy Center and the Eastshore Energy Center were terminated by sellers, and PG&E's authorization to procure the 312 MW that would have accrued to PG&E from these projects remains in pace, pursuant to D.07-12-052.
3 In a fuel conversion agreement, PG&E pays for the fuel and arranges to make it available at the project. (PG&E Prepared Testimony at 3-12.)
