SEPA Names Top 10 U.S. Electric Utilities For Solar Power Usage

The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) has released a new list of the 10 U.S. electric utilities that have added the most new solar power to their systems and the most solar on a watts-per-customer basis in 2012.This annual ranking, which identifies the companies that are integrating solar into the nation's power grid, is part of SEPA's sixth annual Utility Solar Rankings report. The full report, which will be released next month, identifies industry trends, such as total installed capacity, market share and industry growth rates.Utilities ranking in this year's top 10 (by solar megawatts) accounted for 73% of all capacity integrated in 2012, a slight increase from 2011.

Among the top three in the rankings are some of the nation's largest utilities - Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E), Southern California Edison and Public Service Electric & Gas Co. - which often rank highly in this category due to their expansive customer solar programs and utility purchasing programs.Rounding out the list are Arizona Public Service, NV Energy, Jersey Central Power & Light, Tucson Electric Power Co., Progress Energy Carolinas, Sacramento Municipal Utility District and Hawaiian Electric Co. All were previously ranked in 2011, with the exception of Progress Energy Carolinas, which is in its first year on the list.This is the fifth year that PG&E has topped the list, SEPA notes.

Separately, the rankings of the top 10 utilities by solar watts per customer take into account the number of customers each utility serves relative to their solar megawatts installed, giving small utilities a more competitive opportunity to measure their solar energy capacity.Leading these rankings are many municipal utilities, including the City of St. Mary's, Ohio; Kauai Island Utility Co-op in Hawaii; and Bryan Municipal Utilities in Ohio. Both Ohio utilities were not previously ranked, and Kauai moved up from No. 12 in the 2011 rankings.The remaining top 10 providers include Hawaiian Electric Co., Chickasaw (Tenn.) Electric Co-op; Maui (Hawaii) Electric Co.; Imperial Irrigation District in California; Tucson (Ariz.) Electric Power Co.; City of Napoleon, Ohio; and Vineland Municipal Electric Utility in N.J.

Gov. Jack Markell, D-Del., has joined with PSEG Solar Source, Delaware Municipal Electric Corp. (DEMEC), juwi solar Inc. (JSI) and Sunolar Power to dedicate the PSEG Milford solar farm.The 15 MW facility, located in Milford, Del., is the state's largest solar farm, according to JSI. The 80-acre installation uses approximately 62,000 crystalline-silicon modules. DEMEC will purchase the electricity generated by the solar farm through a 20-year power purchase agreement.JSI acquired the partially developed project from Sunolar in mid-2012, after which JSI, Sunolar, PSEG and the City of Milford worked together to get the project ready for construction. JSI served as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor and will manage the day-to-day operation of the plant.

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