MidAmerican Solar and SunPower Start Major Construction on World's Largest Solar Power Development

DES MOINES, Iowa and SAN JOSE, Calif., April 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, MidAmerican Solar and SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWR) marked the start of major construction at the Antelope Valley Solar Projects – two projects co-located in Kern and Los Angeles counties in California – with a community celebration. The 579-megawatt development will employ approximately 650 workers during a three-year construction period; generate more than $500 million in regional economic impact, the majority of which will be generated during construction; and serve California's growing electricity demand with clean, renewable solar power.

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The Antelope Valley Solar Projects make up the world's largest solar power development under construction. When complete, the projects will provide enough energy to power approximately 400,000 average California homes.

"The Antelope Valley Solar Projects are already creating needed jobs and economic opportunity in local communities, while at the same time, providing direct, long-term  environmental benefits," said Paul Caudill, president of MidAmerican Solar. "We look forward to continuing our involvement in the Rosamond, Lancaster and Palmdale communities and, as we move forward, in the surrounding areas. The MidAmerican Solar team is committed to working hand-in-hand with the development's neighbors and stakeholders. We also look forward to providing a reliable source of renewable energy to our customer Southern California Edison."  

"The start of construction on the Antelope Valley Solar Projects underscores that solar is a reliable, cost-competitive energy source," said Howard Wenger, SunPower president, regions. "SunPower is proud to partner with MidAmerican Solar and Southern California Edison on this historic project, which is bringing critically needed jobs and economic opportunity to California today and will generate abundant clean, renewable power to the state over the long term."

The Antelope Valley Solar Projects are owned by MidAmerican Solar. SunPower designed and developed the projects and is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor. SunPower also will provide operations and maintenance services for the plants via a multiyear services agreement.

The Antelope Valley Solar Projects will provide renewable energy to Southern California Edison under two long-term power purchase contracts.

"Southern California Edison appreciates the opportunity to work with MidAmerican Solar and SunPower to meet California's renewable energy goals and recognizes the start of construction as an important step on that path," said Steven Eisenberg, Southern California Edison's vice president of energy contracts.

At the 3,230-acre site, SunPower is installing the SunPower^® Oasis^® Power Plant product, fully integrated, modular solar technology that is engineered to rapidly deploy utility-scale solar projects while minimizing land use. The Oasis product uses high-efficiency SunPower solar panels mounted on SunPower^® T0 Trackers, which position the panels to track the sun during the day, increasing energy capture by up to 25 percent. Construction began in January 2013 and is expected to be complete by year-end 2015.

Electricity generated by the projects will displace approximately 775,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year – the equivalent of taking approximately 3 million cars off the road over the next 20 years.

 MidAmerican Solar and SunPower representatives hosted today's community picnic and celebration at the project site west of Rosamond. Representatives from both companies discussed the project's construction schedule, environmental values, technology and community-centered plans for the future with more than 250 attendees. Local and state officials also provided remarks about the development and renewable energy.

MidAmerican Solar
MidAmerican Solar, a subsidiary of MidAmerican Renewables, is headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz. MidAmerican Solar owns the 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farms in San Luis Obispo County, Calif., and has a 49 percent ownership interest in the 290-megawatt Agua Caliente project in Yuma County, Ariz. In January 2013, MidAmerican Solar acquired the 579-megawatt Antelope Valley Solar Projects, two co-located projects in Kern and Los Angeles counties in California.

MidAmerican Renewables is a subsidiary of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, a global energy provider. MidAmerican Renewables owns and operates solar, wind, geothermal and hydro projects in the unregulated renewables market. MidAmerican Renewables is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. Information about MidAmerican Renewables and MidAmerican Solar is available on the company's website and its Twitter, Facebook and YouTube pages, which can be accessed via www.midamericanrenewablesllc.com.

SunPower Corp.
SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWR) designs, manufactures and delivers the highest efficiency, highest reliability solar panels and systems available today. Residential, business, government and utility customers rely on the company's quarter century of experience and guaranteed performance to provide maximum return on investment throughout the life of the solar system. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., SunPower has offices in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. For more information, visit www.sunpowercorp.com.

SunPower's Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that do not represent historical facts and may be based on underlying assumptions. SunPower uses words and phrases such as "will," "expected to" and similar terms to identify forward-looking statements in this press release, including forward-looking statements regarding (a) the construction of the Antelope Valley Solar Projects and providing energy to Southern California Edison under power purchase agreements, (b) SunPower completing the engineering, procurement and construction ("EPC") for the projects and operating and maintaining the projects, and (c) expected completion by year-end 2015. Such forward-looking statements are based on information available to SunPower as of the date of this report and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, some beyond SunPower's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements, including risks and uncertainties such as: (i) unanticipated delays or difficulties securing necessary permits, licenses or other governmental approvals, or necessary land use rights and other third party consents, and litigation related thereto; (ii) construction difficulties or potential delays in the project development and implementation process; (iii) early termination in the agreements between MidAmerican and SunPower and/or its affiliates, including the EPC agreements for the projects; (iv) the risk of continuation of supply of products and components from suppliers; (v) unanticipated problems with deploying the projects on the site, including engineering, design, procurement, installation, construction, commissioning and warranty issues; (vi) evolving law including permitting, financing, grid interconnection, technical, and other customer or regulatory requirements, and SunPower's and MidAmerican's ability to satisfy such requirements; (vii) general business and economic conditions, and growth trends in the solar power industry; (viii) the continuation of governmental and related economic incentives promoting the use of solar power; (ix) construction difficulties or potential delays in the project implementation and completion process including those caused by force majeure events and other factors; (x) changes in law impacting the federal investment tax credit; (xi) MidAmerican's ability to obtain project financing for the projects and its ability to make timely payments to SunPower in accordance with the agreed payment schedule for the projects; (xii) timely receipt of the federal investment tax credit for the projects in accordance with the expected schedule; (xiii) SunPower's ability to decrease the amount of its performance security for the projects and its ability to meet other security or financial obligations; (xiv) SunPower's ability to meet its warranty obligations and other performance guarantees, as planned; (xv) the timeline of revenue recognition for the projects, including its impact on SunPower's operating results; and (xvi) other risks described in SunPower's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 30, 2012 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing SunPower's views as of any subsequent date, and SunPower is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any responsibility to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise

SOURCE SunPower Corp.