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California's Solar Energy Passes a Milestone by Mark Glover Sacramento Bee, September 7, 2012

California surpassed a major milestone during a recent heat wave, hitting more than 1,000 megawatts of solar power generation. That's equal to the production of two large gas-fired power plants.

The threshold was surpassed several times, according to the Folsom-based California Independent System Operator Corp., which operates the state's wholesale transmission grid.

California energy officials celebrated the solar-generation milestone this week at ISO's annual Stakeholder Symposium at the Sacramento Convention Center.

ISO officials were joined by representatives of the California Energy Commission and California Public Utilities Commission. Steve Berberich, president and CEO of California ISO, said ISO currently has an installed solar capacity of 1,160 megawatts.

Bob Foster, ISO board chairman, said ISO's board of governors has approved enough new transmission investment to enable California utilities to reach a state goal of a 33 percent renewable power mix by 2020.