Why didn't SDG&E come up with this idea?

Escondido is set to ink a deal today (August 17) with the Carlsbad-based private firm Anaergia in which the company will capture waste from a city water-treatment facility, convert it into energy, and then sell the power back to the city.

According to an August 14 release from the city, the Hale Avenue Resource Recovery Facility treats about 15 million gallons of sewage generated in Escondido and Rancho Bernardo. Under an agreement approved by the city council last month, Anaergia subsidiary Escondido Bioenergy Facility, LLC, will construct and operate a "cogeneration facility" on the site for the next 20 years.

The city has agreed to purchase a minimum of 8146 kilowatt hours of electricity per year at a cost of 12.9 cents each. The rates equate to about a one-third cent savings over SDG&E's published commercial rates, and nearly five cents below the lowest residential rates.

The bio-gas facility is expected to provide about three-quarters of the total power demand of the treatment plant, and heat generated from the operation will be provided at no cost — the city currently purchases natural gas from SDG&E to heat plant digesters to a constant 98 degrees.