Pacific Gas and Electric Company Interconnects 25,000th Net Metered Solar Customer in Northern and Central California
October 08 2008 - 12:30PM
PR Newswire (US)
Utility's 25,000 Solar Interconnections Make up Almost Half of
Nation's Customer-Owned Solar SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 8
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pacific Gas and Electric Company today
celebrated the 25,000th net metered solar interconnection in its
northern and central California service area, representing almost
half of the nation's customer-owned solar. Net energy metering
allows eligible renewable customers to offset the cost of their
electric usage with energy they export to the power grid. The
25,000th PG&E net metered solar customer, David Bower, is also
part of the California Solar Initiative (CSI) program. To encourage
customer investment in solar, PG&E provides rebate incentives
that will total $4,500 for a system that supplies 2.4 kilowatts
(kW) of power to Bower's home. "I applaud this significant solar
energy milestone, which goes a long way toward helping California
meet its long-term renewable energy and climate change goals," said
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. "Thousands of California homeowners
are choosing to 'Go Solar' because it's good for their pocketbooks
and for the environment, and they are a huge part of the reason
that California continues to lead the nation in solar adoption."
PG&E's goal in interconnecting solar customers is to provide
cleaner energy for the state and help lower the cost of solar
energy systems. PG&E is making this goal possible by providing
incentives through the CSI program that will help bring the benefit
of carbon-free power to residential and business customers. With
the interconnection of the 25,000th net metered solar customer,
PG&E continues its nationwide leadership in bringing
customer-owned solar power to California, generating more than 200
megawatts of electricity, enough electricity to power about 50,000
homes annually. In fact, PG&E solar customers represent almost
50 percent of such solar systems interconnected in the United
States. "The City of San Francisco's solar incentives, combined
with PG&E's incentives provided through the California Solar
Initiative, allow us to infuse the city with a clean and reliable
source of energy," said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. "PG&E
solar customers are national leaders in customer-owned solar
generation, and San Francisco is proud to support solar adoption as
part of our larger environmental commitment." Bower's solar
installation is expected to produce approximately 3,700
kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity every year. This will help
avoid the emission of more than 2,000 pounds of greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere. "I would like to congratulate PG&E's
25,000th net metered solar customer, David Bower, on helping to
make PG&E customers the leading adopters of solar energy in the
country," said Nancy McFadden, Senior Vice President of Public
Affairs for PG&E. "By making the decision to 'Go Solar,'
PG&E customers are helping solar generation become more cost
effective and reliable than ever before." In 2008, the Solar
Electric Power Association ranked PG&E first in the nation for
solar on the customer side of the meter in both overall solar
capacity and highest MW per customer. PG&E ranked second for
total solar capacity, including utility owned, among all utilities
in the U.S. PG&E has provided more than $300 million in solar
incentives to its customers through California's Self-Generation
Incentive Program (SGIP) and the CSI program. Through CSI, PG&E
has the potential to provide an additional $880 million in solar
rebates. Since July 2007, PG&E has also contracted for over
2,500 megawatts of utility-scale solar to add to its power mix.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E
Corporation, is one of the largest combined natural gas and
electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco,
with 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation's
cleanest energy to 15 million people in northern and central
California. For more information, visit http://www.pge.com/about/.
For more information about Pacific Gas and Electric Company and
solar energy, please visit the company's web site at
http://www.pge.com/solar. DATASOURCE: Pacific Gas and Electric
Company CONTACT: PG&E External Communications Department,
+1-415-973-5930 Web site: http://www.pge.com/
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