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Fremont advances green goals

Dec 11, 2024

City council adopts solar and battery microgrid proposal for critical services

By Panashe Matemba-Mutasa in Tri-City Voice

December 10, 2024

The Fremont City Council on Tuesday, Dec. 3 unanimously passed a motion to adopt a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Ava Community Energy to install solar panels and battery storage systems at six municipal facilities. This initiative is part of the city’s ongoing efforts to provide clean energy and reduce utility costs under its Climate Action Plan, “My Climate Ready Fremont.” The solar and battery systems will provide backup power during grid outages, potentially delivering hours of emergency energy and ensuring critical services remain operational.

“This project is likely to become a model for similar projects in the state and around the country,” said Dan Schoenholz, community development director for the City of Fremont.

Fremont’s Climate Action Plan, dubbed My Climate Ready Fremont, focuses on achieving carbon neutrality and enhancing community resilience to climate change. The plan outlines priority actions such as increasing renewable energy use, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy efficiency across municipal operations. The adoption of a PPA with Ava Community Energy is expected to advance the city’s goals of becoming greener.

Phase one of the project includes equipment implementations at the Age Well Centers at Lake Elizabeth and in South Fremont, and is expected to be completed by April 2026. Phase two entails installations at Fire Stations 1 and 9, the Family Resource Center, and the Tri-City Volunteers Food Bank. A project completion date has not been established for Phase 2, but it is expected that finalization of this second phase will trail the first phase by one to two years.

Under the PPA, the city would host the systems while Fremont-based developer Gridscape Technologies would install, operate and maintain the equipment. The agreement outlines no upfront costs to the city, with fixed energy rates that are projected to save Fremont nearly $900,000 over 25 years compared to current electricity expenditures.

The mayor and six council members expressed their optimism over the possibilities of this new resolution.

“We’re proud to be one of the pioneers in this area,” Mayor Lily Mei said.