Pasadena Water and Power Expands Energy Portfolio with 25 MW of Geothermal Energy

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 11, 2023

California public power utility Pasadena Water and Power is expanding its energy portfolio with 25 megawatts of geothermal energy.

The move is part of Pasadena’s “commitment to growing clean energy and goal of sourcing 100% of its electricity from carbon-free sources,” the city said on July 10.

“Pasadena continues to invest in our renewable future,” said PWP General Manager Sidney Jackson. “The addition of this new geothermal energy brings us closer to meeting goals adopted by the City Council.”

The City Council recently approved a 15-year, 25-MW contract with the Southern California Public Power Authority for the purchase of geothermal energy from Geysers Power Company, LLC, an indirect subsidiary of Calpine Corporation, beginning on January 1, 2027. Located in Lake County, California. The Geysers Geothermal Project is North America’s largest producer of geothermal power.

PWP is currently in the process of updating its Power Integrated Resource Plan, Pasadena’s long-range blueprint for supplying reliable and environmentally responsible electricity at competitive rates.

Jackson recently discussed the IRP in an episode of the American Public Power Association’s Public Power Now podcast.

The acquisition of the geothermal energy advances the greenhouse gas reduction goals identified in the 2021 Power IRP Update.

Along with the Coso Geothermal Project contract, which was acquired in 2020 and is also anticipated to start delivering energy in 2027, geothermal power is expected to make up approximately 25 percent of PWP’s retail energy sales by the end of 2027.