Capital Buildings In California To Be Powered 100% By Renewables
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Capital buildings in the state (or is it a country now?) of California (in Sacramento) will soon be powered 100% by renewable energy, according to recent reports. Plans are also now in the works for all government buildings in the state to make the transition to 100% renewables in the near future as well.
The move by the state’s Department of General Services to make the transition follows shortly after Governor Jerry Brown’s plans for a 50% renewable portfolio standard made it through the California legislature.
The new plans will be put into action via Sacramento municipal utility SMUD’s Greenergy program — which sources electricity from local solar, wind, biomass, hydroelectric, etc, facilities. Amongst these facilities/projects, the contract to power the capital buildings with only renewables will result in electricity being sourced from the Stone Lakes solar energy project, amongst others.
The 3-year contract will see the Department of General Services purchase an estimated 108 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity generated via renewable energy projects, thus offsetting a significant amounts of carbon emissions and other fossil fuel associated pollution.
108 GWh is roughly equivalent to the electricity use of 3,000 or so area homes during the 3-year contract period. As a result of the new contract, the Department of General Services will now be the biggest renewable energy purchaser amongst the various local governments of California.
Worth noting here is that plan will call for roughly $216,000 in costs a year, costs which will be carried by taxpayers, it should be remembered. Not that there isn’t taxpayer support in the state for such things, but it should still be noted.
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