Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation is to directly invest in solar power plants and solar panels distributed in different California communities.

PG&E's president and CEO Peter Darbee said the move represents the first time that PG&E will build and own solar installations. Right now, the utility purchases clean energy from third parties. 

He said the company plans to submit a filing to the SEC as soon as the next quarter that details its investment plans. Darbee mentioned that utility companies are justified in new energy investments because they are some of the only companies not posting losses, making federal tax credits still an advantage.

"We will do a filing (with regulators) in the next quarter to make an equity investment in renewable energy," Darbee said, according to cnet.com . "We are going to move to an equity investment because we have a tax appetite whereas so many other entities do not."

However, Darbee declined to specify how much the investment would be but said that it would be "significant". According to local media, he acknowledged it would comparable in size to Southern California Edison's programme to spend $850 million over five years to put solar panels on commercial rooftops.

As per the informationa available, the utility is looking to take stakes in central solar thermal plants, as well as distributed solar PV rooftops.