Sempra Expanding Solar Plant

Bruce V. Bigelow4/16/09

San Diego’s Sempra Energy, (NYSE: SRE) says its Sempra Generation subsidiary is expanding its 10-megawatt solar power-generation facility near Boulder City, NV, by adding a 48-megawatt photovoltaic system. Sempra hired First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) of Tempe, AZ, to engineer, procure, and install nearly 830,000 thin-film solar panels at the site, which is about 40 miles southeast of Las Vegas. The project could be operational in late 2010, and the combined solar facility, called Copper Mountain Solar, will supply enough electricity for 30,000 homes.

Bruce V. Bigelow is the editor of Xconomy San Diego. You can e-mail him at bbigelow@xconomy.com or call (619) 669-8788