Clean Power Alliance will be buying 575 MW from Pattern Energy’s 3,500MW SunZia wind farm located in three counties in central New Mexico starting in 2026 when the project is projected to be completed. It approved the 15-year contract at its November 3 Board of Directors meeting.

And San Diego Community Power will be buying 150 MW of SunZia Wind in the same time frame. The 15-year, fixed price contract was approved at the October 26 2023 Board of Directors meeting. SunZia’s proposal was selected following SDCP’s request for proposals in October 2022 SDCP serves nearly one million customers in six cities and unincorporated San Diego County.

CPA selected SunZia’s proposal from 128 bids responding to a June 9 solicitation. The purchased power will provide resource diversity and resource adequacy, said Lindsay Saxby, vice president, power supply at the Board meeting.  She added that the contract will mean CPA will be a key participant in the largest renewable project in U.S. history. The CPA serves more than three million customers in the Los Angeles basin and Ventura County.

SunZia Wind and Transmission Project slated to be largest Renewable Resource in U.S.

Pattern Energy’s SunZia wind farm is part of its SunZia transmission line which is expected to begin construction in the fourth quarter 2023, assuming the Bureau of Land Management and other permitting is completed by then.  Pattern Energy acquired one of two SunZia lines from Southwestern Power Group which has been working to develop the lines since 2008. 

The SunZia transmission line, which will originate in central New Mexico, will allow the wind farm to connect to its California customers through the PaloVerde Intertie in Arizona and the California Independent System Operator. Both Community Choice Aggregators noted that SunZia wind power is considered to be complementary to their solar photovoltaic generation, which both have in their arsenal on a daily and seasonal timeframe, thus providing needed diversity.

At its Board of Directors meeting, SDCP also approved a 60-MW/480 MWh stand-alone storage project to be built by Next Era in Palm Springs where its Desert Sands energy complex is located as well. The storage project is slated to become operational in 2027.

Clean Power Alliance will be buying 575 MW from Pattern Energy’s 3,500-MW SunZia wind farm located in three counties in central New Mexico starting in 2026 when the project is projected to be completed. It approved the 15-year contract at its November 3 Board of Directors meeting.

And San Diego Community Power will be buying 150 MW of SunZia Wind in the same time frame. The 15-year, fixed price contract was approved at the October 26 2023 Board of Directors meeting. SunZia’s proposal was selected following SDCP’s request for proposals in October 2022 SDCP serves nearly one million customers in six cities and unincorporated San Diego County.

CPA selected SunZia’s proposal from 128 bids responding to a June 9 solicitation. The purchased power will provide resource diversity and resource adequacy, said Lindsay Saxby, vice president, power supply at the Board meeting.  She added that the contract will mean CPA will be a key participant in the largest renewable project in U.S. history. The CPA serves more than three million customers in the Los Angeles basin and Ventura County.