Utility puts Carlsbad power plant on fast track

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http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/may/27/rushing-carlsbad-power-plant/



An NRG Energy spokeswoman said last week that the company is talking with potential buyers of electricity to be produced at a plant that would replace the aging Encina Power Station.

Utility puts Carlsbad power plant on fast track
By Morgan Lee
3:13 p.m.May 27, 2014

San Diego Gas & Electric is forging ahead with plans to underwrite the construction of a major new natural gas power plant in Carlsbad in response to the early retirement of the San Onofre nuclear plant.

SDG&E notified state regulators May 1 that it has been in direct negotiations with the developer of the Carlsbad Energy Center.

If a contract is signed, and approved by regulators, the gas-fired facility would sit adjacent to the existing Encina Power Station and eventually replace the 60-year-old, oceanfront power plant, known for its landmark 400-foot smokestack. Encina has been targeted for retirement by state regulators because of its age and ecologically harmful ocean cooling system.

The California Public Utilities Commission released last week SDG&E's plan for bolstering local power supplies at the insistence of the Sierra Club and the California Environmental Justice Alliance. The Sierra Club said it would urge the commission to reject the plan, asserting that SDG&E has a legal obligation to explore contracts for cleaner sources of power and conservation before contracting a gas-fired power plant.