EBCE Signs Over 200 Megawatts of New Renewable Energy Generation and 50 Megawatts of Energy Storage, All Located in California

Jun 25, 2019

Projects include wind power near Livermore and energy storage in Oakland

Oakland, Calif. – In a major step towards supporting the energy goals of California and local policies, East Bay Community Energy (EBCE) signed four contracts for new renewable energy projects on Monday, June 24th at an event in Oakland’s Jack London Square. All told, EBCE has this month signed contracts totaling 213.5 MW with new California-based renewable energy facilities, and 50 MW of energy storage, delivering on its commitment to drive the development of new clean energy resources and green jobs in Alameda County and beyond, and to address climate change by reducing energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. All projects are located within California.

The projects include:

Oakland Clean Energy Initiative Project #1: 10-year agreement for 20 MW of energy storage with Texas-based Vistra Energy
Summit Wind Project: 20-year agreement to purchase 57.5 MW of wind energy from the Altamont Winds LLC project near Livermore in Alameda County, from San Diego-based Salka LLC in partnership with a global private equity
Luciana Project: 15-year agreement to purchase 56 MW of solar energy from Japan-based Solar Frontier Americas for a project in Tulare County
Sonrisa Project: 20-year agreement to purchase 100 MW of solar energy and 30 MW of energy storage from EDPR CA Solar Park VI LLC in Fresno County, in partnership with Portugal-based EDP Renewables North America

Speakers at the event included Oakland City Council Member Dan Kalb, Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, Senator Nancy Skinner, California Public Utility Commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, and Margaret Borden and Brian Beveridge of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project.

The Oakland Clean Energy Initiative (OCEI) aims to replace the 40-year-old “Oakland Power Plant,” which was acquired by Vistra in 2018, with clean energy resources. The storage project will provide EBCE with local resource adequacy – electricity-generating capacity that is available to serve demand even under stressful system conditions – and transmission-related reliability.

The Summit Wind Project located in Altamont Pass near Livermore is located within EBCE’s territory and reflects the community choice provider’s commitment to invest in local, clean energy resources and deliver local benefits. The project will entail repowering (replacing) a former Altamont Pass wind farm which consisted of older less efficient wind turbines with ones that are state-of-the-art. Completion and operation of the Summit Wind Project is planned for late 2020. The repowering project will replace 569 one-hundred-kilowatt turbines with 23 modern turbines. Once completed, the repowered wind farm will generate more than 60 percent of its power for Alameda County during peak hours, including the afternoon and high-demand summer months, producing enough clean energy on average to power about 30,000 homes per year.

Here are several comments made by speakers at the event:

Mayor Libby Schaaf shares this comment in relation to the 10-year agreement for 20 MW of energy storage, “This is yet another reason for Alameda County residents to choose East Bay Community Energy. It is cheaper, it is cleaner, and it is beholden to the community, not to shareholders.”

“I come from Livermore and I have to look at the Altamont every day. I have to see those windmills and it pains me to know that energy is leaving our area and going to other places. So now we’re developing our own projects. We are committed to delivering clean energy for an affordable price here in Alameda County”, says EBCE Board Chair and Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty.

Margaret Borden, Founder of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, says, “This is about equity, for me. It’s about time that this community has a level playing field with all the other communities when it comes down to having energy.”

A recording of the event is available here.

Additional information is available in the following press releases:

Senator Nancy Skinner, Margaret Borden, City Council Member Dan Kalb, Mayor Libby Schaaf, Supervisor Scott Haggerty

Mayor Libby Schaaf, Senator Nancy Skinner, City Council Member Dan Kalb, Commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen, Margaret Borden, Supervisor Scott Haggerty, Brian Beveridge, Anne-Olivia Eldred, EBCE CEO Nick Chaset

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About East Bay Community Energy
East Bay Community Energy is a Community Choice Energy provider serving customers in Alameda County. Launched in 2018, EBCE serves approximately 550,000 electricity accounts in Albany, Berkeley, Dublin, Emeryville, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Oakland, Piedmont, San Leandro, Union City and Alameda County’s unincorporated areas.