Pacific Gas And Electric
Drawing water from approximately 100 reservoirs along 16 river basins, its maximum electric output is 3,896 MW.
The single largest component is the Helms Pumped Storage Project, located in Fresno County, California. Helms consists of three units, each rated at 404 MW, for a total output of 1,212 MW.
The facility operates between Courtright and Wishon reserviors, alternately draining water from Courtright to produce electricity when demand is high, and pumping it back into Courtright from Wishon when demand is low. The maximum output of this power plant is 2,190 MW, provided by two equally-sized units.
As designed and licensed, it could be expanded to four units, at least doubling its generating capacity.
The company also maintains the Humboldt Bay Nuclear Power Plant in Eureka, California. The plant operated for 13 years, until 1976 when it was shut down for seismic retrofitting.
The spent fuel is currently stored at the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) on the plant site because of the United States Department of Energy's failure to open the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in a timely manner.
Fossil facilities
There are also two conventional fossil fuel units at the Humboldt Bay power plant, which currently operate on natural gas and produce 105 MW of combined output. These units, along with two 15 MW peaking units, are scheduled for retirement in 2009.
PG&E is currently building 163 MW of new gas-fired generation capacity on the same site, .
As part of a settlement with Mirant for alleged market manipulations during the 2001 California energy crisis, PG&E took ownership of a partially-constructed natural gas unit in Antioch, California. It will produce approximately 530 MW.
On May 15, 2006, after a long and bitter political battle, PG&E shut down its 48-year-old Hunters Point power plant in San Francisco.
With an output of 500 MW and options for another 400 MW, the three installations will initially generate enough electricity to power more than 375,000 homes.
On April 14, 2009 the San Jose Mercury News carried an article by Steve Johnson stating that PG&E is asking state regulators (CPUC) to approve a project to deliver 200 Megawatts of power to California from space. In 1976, the California State Legislature amended the Warren-Alquist Act, which created and gives legal authority to the California Energy Commission, to effectively prohibit the construction of new nuclear power plants.
Furthermore, EDF claimed that PG&E could more cost-effectively encourage industrial co-generation and energy efficiency than build more power plants. Community organizers have countered with a Lets Green WASH This City campaign focused on PG&E's power containing <1% solar and 2% wind.
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When natural gas was introduced in the west, an extensive network of pipelines from the southwest fields was built to ship gas from Texas to northern California.
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PG&E - A Report on the Companies Environmental Policies and Practices - Council on Economic Priorities - NY April 1994
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