Southern California Edison Co

Southern California Edison said Friday that it was about to begin construction on a desert wind farm that could provide power for upward of 3 million homes by 2013, predicting that it would be the largest wind transmission project in the country. Officials estimate that the Tehachapi Renewal Project will eventually provide 4,500 megawatts of electricity. The project will harness the wind that blows through the Tehachapi Mountains about 100 miles north of Los Angeles.

Solar energy is getting a big boost in Southern California with the unveiling of two projects that will be capable of generating a total of 500 megawatts of electricity, enough to serve more than 300,000 homes. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Southern California Edison plan to announce today the country's largest rooftop solar installation project ever proposed by a utility company. And on Wednesday, FPL Energy, the largest operator of solar power in the U.S.

Southern California Edison deserves a 3.6% rate increase in 2009 instead of the 20% hike that the utility has requested, according to the consumer advocacy arm of the state Public Utilities Commission. In the rate recommendation it filed Tuesday, the commission's Division of Ratepayer Advocates slashed Edison's requested rate increase to $156 million above 2008 levels -- an increase of less then 50 cents a month for the average residential customer. The electric utility proposed collecting $5.

The more than 16% rate hike requested by Southern California Edison for next year has triggered plenty of opposition from, among others, sign-toting Los Angeles customers who crowded into a room to tell the utility that they can't afford it. With gasoline and food costing more, few want to spend extra for electricity even if the money would help prevent blackouts.

Regulators are launching a special inspection at Southern California Edison's San Onofre nuclear plant to make sure the utility fixed electrical problems with crucial backup power systems, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday. The visit next week by a three-person team marks the third special inspection in the last 12 months for the coastal facility near San Clemente.

Despite the launch of its third special inspection in a year at Southern California Edison Co.'s San Onofre nuclear plant, federal regulators Thursday night assured the public that the coastal power plant is safe. About 100 residents and officials from nearby communities came to hear the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's annual report on the plant, located near San Clemente.

The state Public Utilities Commission on Thursday levied a $30-million fine -- its largest ever -- against Southern California Edison and ordered the utility to refund more than $81 million to customers, concluding that a seven-year fraud caused substantial harm to consumers and could have diminished worker safety. Although the fine is a record for the PUC, it is $10 million less than what was ordered in late 2007 by a commission judge.

Southern California Edison on Monday unveiled its newest power plant: 33,700 solar panels atop a warehouse in Fontana that will feed green energy directly into the grid. It's the first piece of what the utility says could become the largest rooftop solar installation in the world, a swath of photovoltaic panels spanning two square miles. The 600,000-square-foot warehouse rooftop, owned by logistics firm ProLogis Inc.

Southern California Edison won approval from the state's power grid operator for an electricity transmission line in the Tehachapi region. The California Independent System Operator's approval is the first major step for the $1.8-billion project, which would provide a crucial connection between the existing electrical grid and several wind-power facilities proposed for the Tehachapi area.