SCE signs four Calif. power purchase ageements

NEW YORK, March 7 (Reuters) - Edison International's (EIX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Southern California Edison said Friday it signed four long-term power purchase contracts to add 1,351 megawatts of new generation to help serve the region's growing needs.

The California Public Utilities Commission in July 2006 approved of SCE plan to offered 10-year power purchase agreements to new generation developers in response to state forecasts of inadequate new power plant construction.

Customers in SCE's service territory will pay the cost of the new resources.

SCE's solicitation has produced seven agreements with five developers totaling more than 2,500 MW of new generation, including the deals announced today.

This week's announced agreements include: Competitive Power Ventures' proposed 273 MW Sentinel project in Riverside County; SCE affiliate Edison Mission Group's 479 MW Walnut Creek project in Industry City; NRG Energy Inc's (NRG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 550 MW El Segundo project in El Segundo; and Wellhead's 49 MW Wellhead project in Delano.

The agreements signed previously include NRG's 260 MW Long Beach project in Long Beach; FPL Energy's 490 MW Blythe project in Blythe; and Competitive Power Ventures' 455 MW Competitive Power Ventures project in Riverside County.

FPL Energy is a subsidiary of FPL Group Inc (FPL.N: Quote, Profile, Research), of Juno Beach, Florida.

The PUC must still approve of the new contracts.

One MW powers about 700 homes in California.

Edison International, of Rosemead, California, owns and operates about 14,000 MW of generating capacity, markets energy commodities in North America, and transmits and distributes electricity to about 4.8 million customers in central and southern California. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by John Picinich)