Daniel Englander
Cut Off Your Head to Spite Your Utility Company February 14, 2008 at 11:15 AM
Kevin MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod, Western GeoPower CEO and immortal warrior, is not happy. Late last week MacLeod terminated a 25.5 MW PPA between his company and PG&E, citing the California Public Utilities Commission’s failure to certify the agreement on time. The PPA was a big deal for everyone’s favorite utility, as it represented PG&E’s first major renewables agreement, as well as the first one to die before consummation. See what happens when you mix Viagra and nitrous tablets?
PG&E had contracted in May with the geothermal company to buy power from their Western GeoPower Unit 1 power plant, which is slated to come online in 2010. In December the CPUC issued a blanket approval for 585.5 MW of renewable power for PG&E as part of their 2006 RPS commitments, but the approval came too late for MacLeod’s taste. Clearly this broadsword-wielding c-suite executive is not to be messed with.
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This is a pretty naive take on the situation. Western Geopower has an abundant supply of willing customers throughout the region for its baseload-qualifying geothermal power, and PG&E moved too slow. Pretty simple, really - how long should I wait for you to write me a check before I can decide that I need to pay my rent?
More thoughtful reporting, please.
what’s naive? just the facts, man. (1) there was a deal. (2) cpuc approved too late. (3) western geo exercised their right to terminate. (4) the plant is still slated to come online in 2010.
more thoughtful commenting, please.
“cut off your head to spite your utility”?
More like “stay in business by not doing business with the utility,” which is sound advice given PG&E’s foot dragging on its RPS compliance. Guess the headline seems to condescend to the Western Geo exec, but perhaps Greentech has a marketing deal with Pete Darbee?
right, because western geo has so many other potential customers for a 25.5 MW geothermal PPA. i heard enron was in the… oh… wait. never mind.
and as far as pete darbee goes, i’ve got some choice words for him. actually, only one. it starts with “f” and ends with “inavera” and it’s latin for “probably won’t happen.”
Heh. That was funny.
Actually Western Geo has plenty of options for its power, including any of the numerous PPA/REC companies, SMUD and all the other CA utilities that are struggling to meet the RPS. In fact, if Sonoma or Marin County - or SFO - goes with a CCA, they could buy it all. Bottom line = no shortage of demand.
[...] The California Public Utilities commission has approved to the use of feed-in tariffs. The new program will support the development of 480 MW of small-scale generation capacity. CPUC President Michael Peevey explained “until now, only large renewable projects were able to effectively participate in the [RPS] program,” but now large utilities like PG&E and SoCal Edison can buy power directly from these small projects. That splash you hear in the background is Pete Darbee taking a header into the Calistoga geyser field. [...]
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