Solar-storage PPA between EDF, Southern California Public Power Authority scrapped over rising costs

However, a representative for Anaheim’s main utility, Anaheim Public Utilities (APU), recently confirmed to Energy-Storage.news that it was looking elsewhere to fill the capacity shortfall left by the terminated PPA.

Formed in 1980, SCPPA is a non-for-profit joint powers agency (JPA) representing the interests of eleven municipal utilities and one irrigation district across Southern California.

JPAs, such as SCPPA, enable smaller load-serving entities to pool resources and share the burden of larger procurement contracts which they wouldn’t be able to afford alone.

The cancelled contract relates to offtake from EDF’s Sapphire Solar and Storage project, located on 1,123 acres of land approximately 3 miles north of Desert Center in Riverside County, California.

Under the terms of the original agreement, SCPPA would have access to 117MWac of solar generation alongside 59MW/236MWh of storage capacity to be split equally between the cities of Anaheim, Pasadena and Vernon.

Despite executing a contract for 59MW worth of BESS capacity at its Sapphire project, EDF has permission to develop up to two times this, according to a conditional use permit (CUP) administered by the county’s planning department (CUP220035).

EDF has also secured an interconnection agreement with the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) for 117MW of BESS capacity, alongside 117MW of solar, connecting to the grid via Southern California Edison’s (SCE’s) Red Bluff 230kV substation.

According to the original PPA, EDF guaranteed commercial operations at its Sapphire project by 31 December 2026.

According to APU, the contract was terminated after a final cost audit increased the contract price beyond caps set out within the original PPA.

For both solar and storage portions, EDF and SCPPA agreed on a base price, along with floor and ceiling prices. For the BESS portion, the two parties agreed on a base price of US$10.90/kW-month, along with a US$7.70/kW-month floor price and US$11.70/kW-month ceiling price.

For the solar portion, the two parties agreed upon a base price of US$33/MWh, along with US$28/MWh as a floor price and a ceiling of US$35.36/MWh.

APU informed Energy-Storage.news that EDF sent a letter to SCPPA on February 13th 2025, indicating that it hadn’t consented to staying within the set contract ceiling, and that SCPPA had not consented to a price above the contract ceiling, rendering the PPA terminated.

SCPPA and EDF “explored potential adjustments, but were unable to reach an agreement within the established price cap”, APU told Energy-Storage.news.

Interestingly, the PPA included provisions allowing the two parties to lower capacity prices for the solar and storage portions if EDF secured any Investment Tax Credits (ITCs) or Production Tax Credits (PTCs) under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

In a recent interview with Energy-Storage.news, consultancy Clean Energy Associates (CEA) revealed that it expects ITCs and PTCs to be phased out by the end of 2025 by the Trump Administration.

Energy-storage.news has reached out to both EDF and SCPPA for comment and will update this article if and when it receives a response.

Unlike in other similar contract terminations, APU revealed that EDF isn’t required to pay damages.

During a recent SCPPA board meeting, General Manager at APU, Dukku Lee, expressed his concerns about the PPA termination, remarking on the lost opportunity and time spent negotiating.

In addition, he wanted to “explore options going forward to ensure that developers have skin in the game and cannot walk without penalty if they determine a project is uneconomic.”

Following the termination, APU told Energy-Storage.news that it “will continue evaluating alternative renewable energy and/or storage projects to meet Anaheim’s long-term sustainability goals while ensuring cost-effective procurement for our customers.”

In related news, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced on 14 March 2025 that it had approved a gen-tie transmission line for the Sapphire project.

Confusingly, the BLM said the approval would ‘unleash American energy’—an apparent reference to one of President Trump’s executive orders that not only promotes oil and gas but also seemingly to curb renewable energy development.

In February 2025, Trump appointed Kathleen Sgamma as BLM Director, who, in their previous role, led oil and gas lobby group Western Energy Alliance (WEA) for 19 years.

Sgamma applauded Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord, according to a 2017 blog post for WEA.

Despite the Trump Administration’s anti-renewables stance, approval of the gen-tie line may provide a glimmer of hope to the renewables industry.