SAN FRANCISCO – Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) has announced an agreement with Geysers Power Co. LLC, a subsidiary of Calpine Corp., to increase and extend the utility's purchases of renewable geothermal power.

PG&E currently has two power purchase agreements with Geysers totaling about 375 megawatts (MW) per year, with enough renewable energy to meet the needs of more than 450,000 average homes.

Those agreements expire between the end of 2012 and the end of 2014.

The new deal, if approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, would extend the term for Geysers energy through 2021.

Total capacity is expected to increase about 50 MW to a total of 425 MW from 2010 through 2017, dropping to a total of about 250 MW from 2018 through 2021.

Fong Wan, senior vice president for energy procurement at PG&E, said the company is committed to making geothermal energy an important part of its growing renewables portfolio for many years to come.

PG&E officials said geothermal power is a particularly valuable renewable resource because it is highly dependable. Available around the clock, it is less affected by weather, seasons or other factors that create technical challenges for managing some other kinds of renewable power.

The Geysers steamfield runs across a portion of southern Lake County and into Sonoma County.

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