Platts Energy Week, an all-energy news show broadcast from Washington, D.C., featured CPS Energy CEO Doyle Beneby this Sunday describing his “novel approach” to power generation diversification.
This isn’t the first time that approach — to broaden the utility’s portfolio of power sources and at the same time, require clean energy partner companies to create good paying jobs in San Antonio — has garnered attention. CPS Energy was also recently featured in the Environmental Defense Center’s “Energy Innovations” series.
With host Bill Loveless, Beneby highlighted the 25-year power purchase agreement CPS Energy recently inked with a consortium led by OCI Solar to buy 400 MW from plants OCI Solar will build and operate in the region. To land the deal, OCI Solar had to agree to invest up to $100 million in a manufacting plant in San Antonio that will create at least 800 jobs.
The additional solar power, plus the purchase of the existing 800 MW Rio Nogales natural gas plant in Seguin, brings CPS Energy closer to its goal of diversifying its generation portfolio by 2020.
Doing so decreases risk for the utility, he said. You can watch the clip here.
KLRN, San Antonio’s PBS television station, just added Platt’s Energy Week to its lineup; Beneby was featured in the first locally-aired broadcast.
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