| Industry | Electric utilities |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Rosemead, California, U.S. |
| Area served | Central, Coastal & Southern California |
| Key people | Theodore F. Craver, Jr (Chairman, President and CEO) |
| Products | Electricity generation Electric power transmission distribution |
| Employees | 15,500 (2010)[1] |
| Website | www.sce.com |
Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of Edison International (NYSE: EIX), is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California, USA. It provides 14 million people with electricity. However, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, San Diego Gas & Electric, Imperial Irrigation District, and some smaller municipal utilities serve substantial portions of the southern California territory. The northern part of the state is generally served by the Pacific Gas & Electric Company of San Francisco.
Southern California Edison (SCE) still owns all of its electrical transmission facilities and equipment, but the deregulation of California's electricity market forced the company to sell many of its power plants, though some were probably sold by choice. In California, SCE retained only its hydroelectric plants, totaling about 1,200 MW, and its 75% share of the 2,150-MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. The utility lost all of its natural gas-fired plants, which provided most of its electrical generation. The large, aging plants were bought by out-of-state companies such as Mirant and Reliant Energy, which allegedly used them to manipulate the California energy market. However, SCE still owns about half of the 1,580-MW coal-fired Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nevada, which supplied electricity to California, Nevada, and Arizona. Mohave closed in December 2005, amid concerns regarding water rights and coal supplies.
Southern California Edison's power grid is linked to PG&E's by the Path 26 wires that generally follow Interstate 5 over Tejon Pass. The interconnection takes place at a massive substation at Buttonwillow. PG&E's and WAPA's Path 15 and Path 66, respectively, from Buttonwillow north eventually connect to BPA's grid in the Pacific Northwest. There are several other interconnections with local and out-of-state utilities, such as Path 46.
In addition, SCE operates a regulated gas and water utility. SCE is the sole commercial provider of natural gas and fresh water service to Santa Catalina Island, including the city of Avalon, California. SCE operates the utilities under the names of Catalina Island Gas Company and Catalina Island Water Company.
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In 2009 Southern California Edison entered into a contract with Solar Millennium to purchase solar thermal power up to 726 MW.[2]
Southern California Edison also entered into a contract with Stirling Energy Systems to buy electricity from a 500 megawatt, 4,600 acre (19 km²), solar power plant which was due to open in 2009.[3][4] The purchase was canceled in late 2010, as changes in technology reduced the cost of photovoltaic-based solar power to below that of solar Stirling generated power.[5] This would have been the first commercial application of the dish stirling system. A different technology from the more familiar solar panel, the dish concentrates solar energy by the use of reflective surfaces and by the use of the Stirling heat engine to convert the heat into electricity.
In 2006, Southern California Edison planned to secure 1,500 megawatts or more of power generated from new projects to be built in the Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm area. The contract, which more than doubles SCE's wind energy portfolio, envisions more than 50 square miles (130 km2) of wind parks in the Tehachapi region, which is triple the size of any existing U.S. wind farm.[6]
In March 2008, Southern California Edison announced a $875 million project to build a network of 250 megawatts of photovoltaic solar power generation, making it the biggest solar cell project in the nation. The photovoltaic cells will cover 65,000,000 square feet (6,000,000 m2) of rooftops in southern California and will generate enough power to serve 162,000 homes.[7]
Southern California Edison received a 100% rating on the Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign starting in 2004, the third year of the report.
Ford announced on July 9, 2007 that it will team up with Southern California Edison (SCE) to examine the future of plug-in hybrids in terms of how home and vehicle energy systems will work with the electrical grid. Under the multi-dollar, multi-year project, Ford will convert a demonstration fleet of Ford Escape Hybrids into plug-in hybrids, and SCE will evaluate how the vehicles might interact with the home and the utility's electrical grid. Some of the vehicles will be evaluated "in typical customer settings," according to Ford.[8][9]
Southern California Edison has a long history of research in the energy arena. Often this includes working with other companies and government entities. One example is the SOLARII feasibility generator, which was a solar powered energy plant that could produce electricity 24 hours a day. This was done by heating molten salts that would hold the heat during the day and would be used to generate power at night.
Dr. John Jurewitz served as Director of Regulatory Policy for Southern California Edison for 15 years until his retirement in July 2007. His major areas of research are in oil, gas, and electricity policy and greenhouse gas regulation. He has testified and participated in government-sponsored proceedings addressing electric industry restructuring and energy policy at the state, federal, and international levels.[10][11][12]