Analyst: Calif. Renewable Energy Plants Overpriced
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The independent watchdog arm of California's utility regulator is warning that dozens of renewable energy plants being built to meet the state's tough global warming laws are so overpriced they will increase consumers' energy bills for decades.
California's 2006 landmark climate law has driven up demand for solar and wind power and spurred renewable energy development. The law seeks to reduce California's release of greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2020, and requires one-third of the state's electricity to come from renewable sources by then.
The push for green energy has created huge financial incentives for utilities, which have rushed to sew up power generation contracts to meet the new standards.
Thursday, California regulators approved a request to build a solar thermal project in the Mojave Desert, but one commissioner says it's $1.25 billion over market price.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press
