SAN DIEGO, Jun 1, 2006 -- PRIMEZONE

 

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) today announced that it has contracted to purchase 20 megawatts (MW) of biomass electricity from Bull Moose Energy LLC (BME), beginning in 2008.

"This contract demonstrates SDG&E's continuing drive to expand its portfolio of renewable resources such as wind, solar and biomass," said Terry Farrelly, vice president of electric and gas procurement for SDG&E. "We have pledged to supply 20 percent of our customers' energy needs from renewable resources by 2010."

The Bull Moose Energy facility, expected to be located in the southern area of San Diego County, will gasify green waste, such as tree trimmings, to generate electricity. The facility is a clean burning system and is expected to divert several hundred tons of waste per day away from county landfills. This will be the first biomass facility announced in California since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the recent executive order requiring that 20 percent of the renewable energy purchased by public utilities in California be generated by biomass.

"With the recent improvements in technology, biomass has become one of the cleanest, most low-impact ways to generate electricity," said Amanda Martinez, Bull Moose Energy president. "The habit of using limited landfill space to discard still-useful byproducts of our everyday life must become a thing of the past. The contract between BME and SDG&E allows San Diego to become a part of the clean biomass energy movement."

Bull Moose Energy, LLP, is a Woman Business Enterprise developing energy sources for the renewable energy marketplace. The company, based in San Diego, California, is currently developing projects throughout the country including the Southern San Diego Biomass Energy Facility. The environmentally friendly facility will use biomass waste products to produce electrical power, converting green waste into electricity while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and diverting waste from landfills.

San Diego Gas & Electric is a full-service energy utility that serves 3.4 million consumers through 1.3 million electric meters and more than 825,000 natural gas meters. The utility's service area spans 4,100 square miles and serves customers in more than 125 communities from southern Orange County to the Mexican border. SDG&E is a regulated subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE). Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company. To learn more, go to www.sdge.com.

This news release was distributed by PrimeZone, www.primezone.com

SOURCE: San Diego Gas & Electric

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