PSEG and JEA Dedicate Jacksonville Solar

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) and JEA today hosted business, community and government leaders at the dedication of PSEG Jacksonville Solar, northern Florida's largest solar facility.

PSEG Jacksonville Solar is a 15-megawatt facility consisting of 200,000 ground mounted solar panels situated on 100 acres in Jacksonville, Florida.  On a sunny day the panels will produce enough emissions-free electricity to keep the lights on and air conditioning humming for more than 12,000 homes in Jacksonville.

PSEG Jacksonville Solar is the largest solar installation owned by PSEG Solar Source, PSEG's unregulated solar developer.  The local municipal utility, JEA initiated the solar effort and has a long-term agreement with PSEG Solar Source to purchase the electricity generated by the solar panels.  Florida based Miller Electric Company was the primary construction contractor. Nearly all of the construction jobs created by the project were filled by Florida residents.  

"The solar market in the US is growing fast and we are growing with it.  PSEG believes there are strong benefits to promoting a green economy:  reductions in CO2 and other pollutants, less reliance on foreign oil (as we electrify transportation) and the creation of jobs," said Ralph Izzo, chairman, president and CEO of PSEG.  "This project shows how solar can deliver clean energy to customers, jobs for the local economy and fair returns to investors."      

"JEA made a commitment to pursue renewable, clean energy in 1999, at a time when going green wasn't a trend," said Jim Dickenson, JEA Managing Director and CEO. "This partnership with PSEG allows JEA to further its commitment and to gain first-hand knowledge about solar energy from a utility-scale facility."

"PSEG Solar Source can locate solar facilities anywhere in the US but chose Jacksonville for three reasons: strong Florida sun, a partner in JEA with a vision for delivering clean energy to its customers and a political climate that is supportive of solar development," said Diana Drysdale, who heads PSEG Solar Source.  "While this is our largest product to date, it is not our last.  We are actively developing additional solar projects here in the US."

juwi solar USA Inc. (JSI), based in Colorado was the engineering, procurement and construction contractor and developed the facility.  The panels were manufactured by First Solar.  Photos and fact sheet of PSEG Jacksonville Solar are available at www.pseg.com/Jacksonville.

PSEG (NYSE: PEG) is a diversified energy company based in Newark, NJ and currently the fourth largest owner of solar facilities in the US.  PSEG Solar Source's other utility scale solar projects are the 12-megawatt PSEG Wyandot Solar Farm (the largest in Ohio) and the 2-megawatt Mars Solar Garden in Hackettstown, New Jersey (which provides power to the adjacent M&Ms plant). PSE&G, a regulated PSEG gas and electric company in NJ, is currently building the largest and second largest solar facilities in New Jersey, as well as installing grid connected solar panels on 200,000 utility poles in that state. PSEG is the 2010 recipient of the Edison Electric Institute's Edison Award, the electric industry's highest honor.  

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JEA is a not-for-profit, community-owned electric, water, and sewer utility located in northeast Florida, which includes Jacksonville, Florida.  The utility has a net generating capacity of 3,238 megawatts.  The energy purchased from this facility will add 12.6 MW to JEA's renewable portfolio.  JEA's renewable portfolio includes solar photovoltaic systems on local facilities, landfill gas-to-energy, biogas from JEA's wastewater treatment facility and a 10 MW share of wind power from Nebraska Public Power District.

SOURCE Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG)