Gil Alexander, an SCE spokesman, tells GlobeSt.com that the solar array on the roof of the ProLogis building is the first step in the utility's $875-million program to generate 250 megawatts of electricity with solar panels on 65 million sf of commercial property roofs in California. SCE expects to take about five years to complete the installations, which will produce enough power to serve approximately 162,000 homes. The installation at the ProLogis building in Fontana, which is at the REIT's Kaiser Distribution Park, will generate enough electricity to power approximately 1,300 homes, Alexander tells GlobeSt.com.

[IMGCAP(2)]The deal for SCE to lease the rooftop space from ProLogis links the largest electric utility in California with the largest industrial owner and developer in SouthernCalifornia. John E. Bryson, chairman and CEO of SCE parent company Edison International, says that SCE hopes to begin generating its first power from the rooftop installation in August. Alexander tells GlobeSt.com that the summer startup of the solar plant will match ideally with the demand for electricity, which peaks in August and September in Southern California.

Alexander explains that the rooftop generation system also provides a number of other advantages. Among them: the power is generated right where it is needed, eliminating the need for transmission over long distances; the solar panels produce the most electricity when the sun is hottest, which is also when demand is greatest; and thanks to advances in technology, the costs are projected to be half that of common photovoltaic installations in California.

What all of this means for ProLogis and other owners of buildings with big rooftops is, in the words of ProLogis chairman and CEO Jeffrey H. Schwartz, a combination of a "breakthrough solar energy program" and an opportunity for building owners like ProLogis to "support our own sustainability goals and leverage existing assets."

Schwartz points out that ProLogis has the capability to support SCE's ongoingrequirements and will help to fulfill the program's need for vast amounts of roof space. The REIT owns 180 distribution facilities in SCE's territory comprising more than 41 million sf, the majority of which is eligible for SCE's program.

Alexander tells GlobeSt.com that SCE is in discussions with multiple property owners in the Inland Empire and other parts of its service territory. One reason the Inland Empire is such a good candidate for the solar generating plants, according to Alexander, is that besides having millions of square feet of rooftop space it is also one of the fastest-growing regions of California and hence one of the places that most needs more electrical power.

When ProLogis and SCE gathered at the Fontana building for their joint announcement, Alexander says, officials of the two firms stood in the middle not only of one of the world's largest concentrations of distribution space but also in the middle of what is potentially one of the largest concentrations of solar power generating facilities. "From right where we stood, you could see 14 million sf of rooftops," he said.