PSEG Energy Holdings making huge investments in solar power
When New Jersey-based Public Service Electric and Gas bought a 25-megawatt solar project in Arizona last week, it marked an important milestone in the company’s renewable energy portfolio development.
The has been interested in strategic growth and buying diverse power generation facilities and investing in commercial real estate form decades, said PSEG Solar Source vice president Diana Drysdale.
“We were interested in wind and solar power generation as the next growth areas,” Drysdale said. “And we decided to focus on solar as it seems to be the most promising of the renewables.”
She said legislative attention, public policy and market factors are driving major growth in the solar world, and PSEG wanted to be at the forefront of the change.
“Solar has so much room to grow that it reminds us of the computer industry 20 years ago,” Drysdale said. “We fully expect the iPad of the solar realm to appear in the next five to 10 years.”
And PSEG is positioning itself to be among the first in line when it does.
“We’ve taken a crawl, walk, run approach to investing in solar,” Drydale said.
The company already owns three other solar arrays, which it began buying in 2008. They include a 12-megawatt facility in Wyandot, Ohio; 15 megawatts in Jacksonville, Fla. and 2.2 megawatts in New Jersey.
PSEG paid $75 million for the 25-megawatt project in Queen Creek that was commissioned by the Salt River Project. The utility bought it from Juwi Solar, which was building the project.
“We’ve been very careful about what we’ve bought, very selective,” Drysdale said.
She said the company evaluates projects based on what their potential for return on investment is in current market conditions as well as what they could be in the changing marketplace.
“We’re really in a fast walk now with this Arizona acquisition,” Drysadale said. “And we’re going to continue to grow.”
She said the company will continue looking for smart solar investments and has experience and momentum behind its push for solar. PSEG is gearing up for a run toward solar.
