Mayor Gary Yep and City Manager Luis Patlan of Kerman, Calif. joined officials of ConEdison Solutions and Borrego Solar Systems to dedicate a solar installation at the city of Kerman’s wastewater treatment plant.
By tapping solar power as an energy source, taxpayers will enjoy approximately 40% net reduction in the treatment plant’s electricity costs—a savings of more than $95,000 per year.
Through a 20-year purchase power agreement with ConEdison Solutions, the half-megawatt solar facility will supply 70% of the plant’s electricity and generate 940,000 kWh of power annually.
The 1,680-panel solar installation is owned and operated by ConEdison Solutions, an energy services company based in Valhalla, N.Y., and was constructed by Borrego Solar Systems Inc., a solar company headquartered in San Diego, CA.
“We expanded the capability of our waste water treatment facility to better serve the growing Kerman community, but this larger state-of-the-art operation requires more energy to operate, and in turn, more electricity,” said Mayor Gary Yep. “By going solar, Kerman is offsetting the increase in electricity, reducing our net-energy costs, and protecting our budget against future utility-rate increases while creating local jobs. This public-private partnership will reduce Kerman’s electricity costs for 20 years, and required zero upfront capital expense.”
In other initiatives by the city, the wastewater treatment plant has undergone a $6.7 million expansion, the largest capital improvement initiative in the city’s history. The plant expansion was made possible with a $2 million grant via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and a $4.7 million loan from California’s State Water Resources Board Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund.
Source: Borrego Solar Systems
