CPS Energy, a large municipally owned utility providing natural gas and electric services, has increased its solar electricity solicitation to 400 MW – an increase of 350 MW over its previous solicitation earlier this year.
Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) President and CEO Julia Hamm praised the utility for its ‘monumental’ initiative.
‘While the use of utility-scale solar power has steadily spread across all parts of the nation, the abundance of solar resources in the Southwest makes it a perfect location for a project of this scale,’ Hamm said in a statement. ‘Our 2010 Utility Solar Rankings report found that the 10 U.S. utilities with the most solar activity added 561 MW of new solar capacity last year. This CPS Energy project would produce the equivalent of more than 71 percent of that new capacity on its own.’