Companies with energy business in California are becoming more stable after many had troubles with their incomes in the past few years. For the most part, renewables companies are gaining stronger footholds in the economy. Fossil fuel companies vacillate a bit more, but are steadying their incomes. The latest fiscal quarter’s roundup includes: AltaGas—The Canadian company with interests in California reported $26.8 million in net income for the three months ending in June. Last year for the second quarter, income was $35.5 million. The company plans to expand its 579 MW gas-fired Blythe facility with the potential of selling more electricity to both Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric. It credited the facility with adding to its bottom line. It noted that it acquired property adjacent to the existing Blythe facility for $8.5 million April 29 for an expansion. Calpine—With geothermal and fossil plants in the state, this company posted net income of $139 million for the second quarter 2014. In 2013, the second quarter netted a loss of $70 million. Calpine entered a new 10-year contract for its Geysers geothermal facility for 225 MW beginning in 2017. The California Public Utilities Commission has not yet approved it. Dynegy—The company reported a gain for the quarter of $38 million compared to $30 million this time last year. Its 650 MW Morro Bay plant was officially closed in February. Its Moss Landing units 6 and 7 at 750 MW each are on short-term power purchase contracts with Southern California Edison. First Solar—The company posted a net loss of $107 million for the quarter. This time last year, the gain was $33.6 million. Its 230 MW Antelope Valley project near Lancaster (with a $646 million federal loan guarantee) and the 550 MW Desert Sunlight plant (also with a partial Department of Energy loan guarantee) in Riverside County drained earnings. It noted the latter is waiting on a remediation plan. Desert Sunlight has an engineering problem, dealing with inverters when the plant is fully powered, according to executives. The worldwide company with a San Francisco office has utility-scale photovoltaic installations. NextEra Energy Resources—A division of NextEra that’s California’s major wind developer reported year-end profits at $81 million. In the second quarter last year, it posted $229 million. It added 13 MW of solar at the Desert Sunlight facility in Riverside County this quarter. NRG—The company reported a net loss of $80 million for the quarter compared to an income of $131 million this time last year. Its operations in the West netted $33 million for the quarter. NRG reports that its plan to acquire the 947 MW Alta wind farm in the Techachapis is on track at a cost of over $2 billion. The wind farm is contracted to Edison. It, along with Google and BrightSource Energy, opened the 392 MW Ivanpah thermal solar facility Feb. 13. The $2.3 billion project received a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy. Ivanpah has been controversial because of its large size and environmental impacts, but some environmentalists see it as a big step forward for large-scale solar—in this instance, with storage potential. Output from Ivanpah units 1 and 3 is being sold to Pacific Gas & Electric under two long-term power purchase agreements. The electricity from unit 2 is being sold to Southern California Edison. SunEdison—With offices in San Clemente, Sacramento, Belmont, and Ontario, this company has both large- and small-scale photovoltaic projects and a semiconductor business. It reported a net loss of $51 million for the quarter. That’s a little brighter for investors than the $96 million loss it reported this time last year. SunPower Corp.—This San Jose-based photovoltaic company posted $44 million in income for the quarter. In 2013 at this time it was up at $63 million. The company noted it’s started construction on the 135 MW Quinto solar facility in Merced Co. It renamed its Antelope Valley project near Rosamond to Solar Star. SunPower projects the five-square-mile, 579 MW plant is set to be the “world’s largest.” While the company noted its “great position” in California, it’s also building a 150 MW project in Inner Mongolia. Editor’s note: Current attempts to present financial information on an apples-to-apples level, but not all corporations report on the same basis.
