State, Local Agencies Come Together to Dedicate State-of-the-Art Lodi Energy Center Natural Gas-Fired Power Plant is the Cleanest of its Kind
State and local elected officials in Lodi joined with the Northern California Power Agency (NCPA) in celebrating the completion of the 300-megawatt Lodi Energy Center (LEC), the cleanest and most efficient combined-cycle natural gas-fueled power plant in the State of California, if not the nation.
As the owner and operator of the LEC, NCPA partnered with 13 public power utilities and other agencies to construct the $388 million project in Lodi during the past two years. When it comes online next month, the facility will serve millions of Californians by providing electricity to several participating municipal utility communities, BART and the California Department of Water Resources.
"The Lodi Energy Center will provide grid reliability to the Central Valley, while integrating renewable resources," says Energy Commission Chair Robert B. Weisenmiller. "This is the future for fast-start gas-fired combined cycle power plants in the country."
"LEC is the future of clean, reliable energy, not just for the individual communities and agencies represented here, but for the entire state of California," says NCPA General Manager James H. Pope during the dedication ceremony. "This facility will come online quickly, burn less fuel and produce fewer emissions."
Nine of NCPA's 16 members, along with four other public entities, are sharing in LEC's investment and benefits. The City of Santa Clara's Silicon Valley Power is a major participant in the LEC with a 25% share of the project. The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) will use its portion of LEC's output to help power its transit system trains, Pope says. The Modesto Irrigation District and the municipal utilities serving Lodi, Gridley, Ukiah, Healdsburg, Biggs, Lompoc, and Azusa will receive LEC energy, along with the Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative, and the Power and Water Resources Pooling Authority.