Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) gained state regulatory approval Thursday to sell its lone remaining interest in out-of-state coal-fired generation. This is consistent with the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) mandate that it do so by 2016.

The CPUC approved SCE selling its interest in two units at the Four Corners Generating Station in New Mexico, which is operated by Arizona Public Service Co. (APS). “It is undisputed that SCE’s ownership of its interest in Four Corners is no longer necessary or useful in the performance of its duties to the public,” the CPUC order said.

CPUC President Michael Peevey, a former SCE president and member of its board, issued a statement calling the five-member regulatory panel’s decision the “close of a chapter in California for our regulated utilities and their ownership interest in coal-fired generation facilities.” He cited a California law (SB 1368) that mandates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions limits for power generation purchased by the state’s major utilities. Those emissions standards are based on a natural gas-fired combined-cycle plant, whose emissions standards cannot be met by most coal-fired generation.

“SCE is furthering those objectives by divesting its ownership share in Four Corners,” Peevey said. “SCE ratepayers will be the beneficiaries of the gains on the sale of this asset and all Californians will benefit as the state takes one more step closer to reduced GHG and a cleaner environment.”

SCE garnered $284 million for its 48% interest in Four Corners Units 4 and 5, an operational coal-fired plant with APS purchasing the interest.

The Edison International utility is divesting all coal-fired generation at a time when its affiliated independent power business, Edison Mission Group, is struggling to overcome a recent sea of red ink prompted by its large holdings of coal-fired generation plants in the upper Midwest and Pennsylvania. These plants are facing hundreds of millions of dollars of retrofit work to comply with more stringent federal air pollution regulations (Daily GPI, March 2).

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