San Francisco – Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG & E) announced last Thursday that it inked a deal with NextLight Renewable Power LLC to provide 290 megawatts of solar power to customers across Northern and Central California. The project, to be located in Yuma County, Arizona, is PG & E’s second major contract with a subsidiary of NextLight. It is one of several recent deals in order to acquire 2,000 megawatts of power, including 830 megawatts from solar developers for use by PG & E customers, including thousands in the Sierra foothills. “The Agua Caliente project will deliver about 700 gigawatt-hours of energy per year, enough to serve the needs of more than 100,000 average homes. Initial deliveries are expected to begin in mid-2012, with the project becoming fully operational by late 2014,” said PG & E in a statement last week. In June, the companies announced a project for 230 megawatts of solar power in Antelope Valley, California. The PG & E statement said “both projects, which are subject to approval by the California Public Utilities Commission, will use photovoltaic panels to generate clean, renewable power.” Shares of the company were trading at $42.18 the day after the announcement on the New York Stock Exchange. “In keeping with state policy and our own commitment to a cleaner energy future, we continue aggressively to pursue additional sources of renewable power,” said Fong Wan, senior vice president of energy procurement at PG&E, adding: “Our agreements with NextLight will help PG&E, and the state of California, show continued leadership in the development of solar power.” Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.