Geothermal Energy Market in Southern California Past, Present and Future
I'm pleased to be here as your keynote speaker from the utility industry. Today is fitting to discuss the role of an alternative/renewable energy resource such as geothermal. Three years ago today, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spilled 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska. This ecological catastrophe was another of those periodic jolts that underscores the importance of lessening our nation's dependence on oil and increasing the use of cost-effective, environmentally benign alternative/renewable energy sources. Alternative/renewables have come a long way since the first oil crisis in 1973. Today, they provide 9 percent of electric power used in the United States. That's nearly double the figure of just two years ago. And since 1985, one-third of a new capacity has come from geothermal, solar, wind and biomass facilities. Nevertheless, geothermal supplies only about three-tenths of a percent of the country's electric power, or roughly 2,800 megawatts (MW). And most of that is in California. In fact, geothermal is California's second-largest source of renewable energy, supplying more than 5 percent of the power generated in the state. Today, I'd like to discuss the outlook for the geothermal industry, framing it within Southern California Edison's experience with geothermal and other alternative/renewable energy sources.
- Research Organization:
- Southern California Edison, Vice President of System Planning and Operations
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 891872
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-920378-2; TRN: US200622%%526
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Proceedings, Geothermal Energy and the Utility Market - The Opportunities and Challenges for Expanding Geothermal Energy in a Competitive Supply Market; San Francisco, CA, March 24-26, 1992, Geothermal Program Review X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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