SALT LAKE CITY, UT, FEBRUARY 22, 2007: A group of Southern California cities that have been the major purchasers of Utah coal-fired power now are investing in Utah wind to round out their renewable energy portfolios.

The Southern California Public Power Authority, on behalf of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the cities of Burbank and Pasadena, has signed a 20-year $270 million contract with UPC Wind of Milford to buy 200 megawatts of wind-generated electricity - enough for about 43,000 households.

The public power authority's executive director, Bill Carnahan, said that the agreement is unique for public-owned utilities. That's because while the cities have signed a typical power purchase agreement with UPC, "instead of making it pay as you go, we're going to prepay," he said.

The arrangement means that Los Angeles, Burbank and Pasadena will save at least $42 million because they are not constructing and financing the wind plant expected to come online in December 2008, Carnahan said. The agreement is expected to go to the LADWP board of commissioners and the Los Angeles City Council for approval within 90 days.

The wind farm will be located on 16,000 acres about eight miles northeast of Milford. The property is in Millard and Beaver counties in a desert valley between two mountain ranges that create a wind funnel, said Krista Kisch, the San Diego-based business development director for the company, which has offices in Massachusetts, New York, Hawaii, California and Ontario, Canada.

Kisch said her company zeroed in on the remote site after hearing about Milford High School teacher Andy Swapp's 2003 eighth-grade class project to install a tower to measure the Milford Valley's potential for wind power.

The California cities are the first customers for the project, which could be expanded fourfold. While only three of the 11 cities and one irrigation district in the public power association have so far signed up for UPC's energy, the group represents more than 6 million customers, Carnahan said.

UPC Wind is developing 35 projects around the nation that will generate 3,000 MW of electricity, enough for about 660,000 households. The company previously had concentrated its efforts in the East, but increasingly looking to the West, said Michael Alvarez, UPC Wind's chief operating officer.

A new law requires California utilities to make renewable energy 20 percent of their total mix by 2010. Public-owned utilities have a longer deadline, but Carnahan said the state Assembly is working now to make them toe the same line as investor-owned utilities. The UPC Wind purchase would account for 1.9 percent of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power mix.

New California law forbids utilities to enter into long-term contracts with conventional coal-fired power producers. That law has had a major impact on the Southern California cities that essentially built the $3 billion Intermountain Power Project in Delta, Utah, because their current contracts expire in 2027.

About First Wind
First Wind is based in Newton, Massachusetts. First Wind is an American-owned company, with a proven track record of developing, owning, and operating well-sited, community-friendly wind farms that increase energy independence. For more information on First Wind, please visit www.firstwind.com.

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For more information, contact:
John Lamontagne
Director, Communications
First Wind
617-964-3340

By: Patti Henetz
The Salt Lake Tribune