Sempra U.S. Gas & Power dedicated the 150-MW first phase of the Mesquite Solar facility, located in Arlington, Ariz., about 40 miles west of Phoenix. Sempra says that when it’s complete, the Mesquite Solar Complex will be North America’s largest PV installation. Construction began in June 2011 Pacific Gas & Electric will purchase the output under a 20-year contract. With Mesquite 1 operating, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power’sportfolio reaches 300 MW. 

IKEA officially plugged-in its solar energy system installed, developed and designed by REC Solar, at its store in Stoughton, Massachusetts. The 118,000-square-foot photovoltaic (PV) array consists of a 590.8-kW (DC) system, built with 4,220 laminated panels. IKEA owns and operates each of its solar PV energy systems atop its buildings – as opposed to a solar lease or PPA – and globally has allocated $1.8 billion to invest in renewable energy through 2015. 

GE will supply 59 of its new 1.7-100 brilliant wind turbine to NextEra Energy Resources for a planned Michigan wind farm. GE’s latest development in wind turbine technology increases the rating on the 1.6-100 from 1.6 MW to 1.7 MW, boosting the power by 6 percent. With blades that extend 100 meters – a height of 33 stories – the 1.7-100 has the ability to capture additional energy, making it well suited to a variety of wind farm locations. 

Xcel Energy expanded an agreement with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) for renewable energy forecasting. In the next two years, NCAR scientists and engineers will develop custom forecasting systems to enable Xcel Energy control centers in Minneapolis, Denver, Golden, Colo., and Amarillo, Tex., to anticipate sudden changes in wind, shut down turbines ahead of potentially damaging icing events and even predict the amount of energy generated by private solar panels.

MidAmerican Energy will add up to 1,050 MW of wind generation, consisting of up to 656 new wind turbines, in Iowa by year-end 2015. If the expansion is approved by the Iowa Utilities Board, MidAmerican Energy will own and operate approximately 3,335 MW of wind generation capacity in Iowa by year-end 2015. 

Imperial Irrigation District (IID) chose Abengoa for a power transmission project that includes the upgrade of a 230kV transmission line, as well as substations in the state of California. The “Path 42” project is part of a plan to extend the power network being developed by Imperial Irrigation District in order to increase the capacity of the network and enable access to new sources of renewable energy in California.

CenterPoint Energy, Inc., OGE Energy and ArcLight Capital Partners closed on the formation of the previously announced partnership that includes CenterPoint Energy's interstate pipelines and field services businesses and the midstream business of Enogex LLC. CenterPoint Energy, OGE Energy and ArcLight hold approximately 58.3 percent, 28.5 percent and 13.2 percent limited partner interests in the partnership, respectively.

Duke-American Transmission completed its previously announced purchase from Atlantic Power of 72 percent of the capacity of Path 15—an 84-mile, 500-kV transmission line in central California that connects the state’s northern and southern transmission grids. Pacific Gas & Electric owns 18 percent of the line's capacity through its ownership and operation of the connecting Los Banos and Gates substations. The remaining 10 percent is owned by Western Area Power Administration, which will continue to operate and maintain the line.

American Electric Power received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to separate its Ohio generating assets from its Ohio distribution and transmission operations and transfer these assets to a competitive generation company and regulated affiliates. AEP anticipates implementing corporate separation and the other items in the related filings by Dec. 31, 2013.

NRG Energy began commercial operation at its Marsh Landing Generating Station, a 720-MW natural gas–fueled, peaking facility located near Antioch, Calif., in the San Francisco Bay area. The Marsh Landing station will employ technologies to meet or exceed the state of California’s standards for emissions control and air quality. The turbines will operate with ultra-low nitrogen oxides (NOx) combustors, along with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and an oxidation catalyst system to reduce carbon monoxide and other organic compound emissions.