PG&E launches push for new generation

Pacific Gas and Electric is making a move to build new electric generation in California...filling a gap left open since the energy crisis in 2000-01.

A post-energy crisis lull in the construction of new power plants in Northern California neared an end Tuesday, as PG&E Corp. announced $1.5 billion in development deals that could provide it with 1,780 megawatts -- enough new electricity to serve 1.4 million households.

The deals mark "a momentous step to secure new, clean and reliable electricity suppliers to power California's growing economy and replace an aging fleet of power plants," Tom King, chief executive of PG&E's utility unit, said in a release.

PG&E also has in the works a $380 million deal to acquire and complete a 40 percent constructed, 530-megawatt power plant in Antioch from Mirant Corp., a bankrupt power seller based in Atlanta.

The deals would leave PG&E owning two new power plants and holding long-term contracts for the output of three other plants owned by third parties. All of the deals require approval by state regulators.