SDG&E Adds Biomass Energy From Northern California

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) today announced that it has signed a power-purchase agreement with Blue Lake Power, LLC (BLP), a wholly owned subsidiary of Renewable Energy Providers, to supply 11 megawatts of biomass energy from Blue Lake's facility in Humboldt County, California.

Under a 10-year agreement, the biomass facility will produce enough "green" power for 7,000 households by converting wood waste into clean energy.

"With this biomass agreement, SDG&E will supply nearly 16 percent of our energy portfolio from clean power sources in 2010, which is three-quarters of the way to reaching the 20 percent renewables milestone," said Matt Burkhart, vice president of electric & gas procurement for SDG&E.

If approved by the CPUC, the newly restored biomass facility is expected to be online by April 1, 2009.

SDG&E is a regulated public utility that provides safe and reliable energy service to 3.4 million consumers through 1.4 million electric meters and more than 840,000 natural gas meters in San Diego and southern Orange counties. The utility's area spans 4,100 square miles. Exceptional customer service is a priority of SDG&E as it seeks to enhance the region's quality of life. SDG&E is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego.