WASHINGTON -- AES Corp. announced plans to seek permits for the construction of several electric generating plants in Southern California at existing sites operated by the utility.
AES AES stock was up 3.2%, or 33 cents, at $10.48 in late afternoon trading.
The new power plants would provide a total of 500 additional megawatts of power to California. One megawatt provides enough power for roughly 1,000 U.S. households.
AES generates 4,344 megawatts of gas-fired generation at four sites in California, located in Redondo Beach, Huntington Beach, Newhall and Alamitos. The utility also has two other sites with biomass facilities.
AES said it is considering building generation plants at up to three of its sites in Southern California.
By locating the new facilities on sites where AES already has generating plants, the siting application is expedited under rules approved last year by the California legislature.
Construction on the new power plants will begin once contracts have been signed by customers for a majority of the output from the plants, the company said.
"We are encouraged by the governor's vision for the future of the electricity industry in California and look forward to being part of the solution to California's future electricity needs," said Mark Woodruff, vice president of AES.
