New Sonoma utility agrees on geothermal power contract with Calpine

Geothermal plant at the Geysers, California/ U.S. (source: ThinkGeoEnergy, creative commons)

Alexander Richter 23 Nov 2013

The new power utility for Sonoma County, the Sonoma County Public Power Agency, now approved a seconary energy supply deal for geothermal power from the county.

In a next step pricing for and enrollment of customers will be discussed.

The agency has now signed a “10-year contract for electricity from The Geysers on the Sonoma-Lake county border securing a long-term supply from a clean, renewable source at a competitive fixed rate”, as reported lcoally. .

The contract was signed with Calpine Corp. that is the main operator of geothermal plants in the Geysers area.

The utility expects to launch its service next year, likely on May 1, 2014. The utility venture in the county is positioning itself as a “a greener, competitively priced alternative to PG&E”, the largest utility in the

Officials for the new utility are refusing to disclose wholesale pricing for the contract, which has been approved by the board but is not officially signed yet to prevent the releasing of price figures.

“Calpine has also requested the contract be covered under a confidentiality clause, though Sonoma Clean Power officials acknowledged that once the deal is signed, it would be subject to disclosure under California public records laws.”

Source: Press Democrat