EBMUD Celebrates Completion of Orinda Solar Array Project

    As East Bay Municipal Utilities District (EBMUD)’s upgrade of its 89-year-old water treatment plant continues, the agency is celebrating the completion of another project in Orinda. The 4.6-megawatt Orinda Photovoltaic Solar Energy Project (Orinda PV), located on watershed land below Briones Reservoir, is EBMUD’s largest solar project yet.
    “What we can say is, East Bay MUD’s carbon footprint in Orinda will be reduced to zero,” said EBMUD Associate Civil Engineer Ramona Gonzalez, explaining that moving water around requires a lot of energy, and the project will help to offset the cost.
    The solar array, covering 12 acres, will generate around 10 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity a year, offsetting nearly 10% of its energy costs, according to EBMUD. The project reflects EBMUD’s commitment to investment in clean and renewable energy for a sustainable future.

Private and Public Partnership
    Partners include Pacific Gas & Electric, the City of Orinda, Panorama Environmental Inc. and global multi-energy company TotalEnergies, who worked alongside EBMUD to develop the three new installations west of Bear Creek Road.
    More than 20 of EBMUD’s larger electric accounts will receive electricity from the solar array, according to the agency.
    TotalEnergies Renewables USA Vice President Eric Potts noted that while the site will be monitored remotely, personnel will visit multiple times a year to perform tasks such as preventative maintenance, repairs and landscaping, which will in turn provide local jobs.
    Building the solar array also provided jobs to the surrounding community.
    “During the construction of the project, which took roughly about a year, [we] certainly had local jobs here as well,” said Potts, noting electricians and civil workers among those who contributed their skills.
    “It’s a 25-year-plus project,” Potts continued, emphasizing “a real vested interest,” along with EBMUD, in the highest standard of facility maintenance.
    Projected savings for EBMUD ratepayers over the 25-year contract is $26 million, and the agency notes that savings could increase if retail electric rates continue to climb more than inflation.

Commitment to Environment/ Wildlife
    The solar array project is a unique one for the Bay Area and Orinda, said engineer Gonzalez, due to the presence of wildlife in the area.
    “All the agencies gave a lot of input, and it went to make this project 100% better, just a commitment to the environment and the wildlife,” said Gonzalez.
    There was some initial hesitation regarding what changes would take place, she said, but “it’s still beautiful,” with native species planted on site.
    “We want it to be as beautiful as when we came here, and we think it will be,” said Gonzalez.
    TotalEnergies’s Potts echoed Gonzalez’s sentiments about the project’s visual appeal and the preservation of the area for the species inhabiting it.
    “We’ve got wildlife that comes through here,” he said, noting that the distance between the ground and the bottom of the fence line allows for small animals to migrate freely.
    “And we also want to make sure it’s not a sore thumb visually for the community, but it can also be something the community’s proud of, and East Bay MUD’s proud of,” said Potts.
    EBMUD’s Ward 3 Director Marguerite Young highlighted the importance that EBMUD places on the management of water quality and habitat protection, as well as the risk of fire.
    “This project would have never gone forward if it presented any of those kinds of risks,” said Young, and extensive surveys of all of the agency’s land led them to choose this site.

Goal of Carbon Neutrality by 2030
    Andy Katz, who represents EBMUD’s Ward 4 on the Board of Directors, emphasized how the new solar installation will help the agency reach its goal of carbon neutrality by 2030.
    “Climate change is the biggest crisis facing humanity,” said Katz, “And what this project is able to do is make a small but important impact on ensuring that our energy comes from renewable sources.”
    The original concept for the Orinda PV originated about five years ago, said EBMUD General Manager Clifford Chan, who sees the project as a model and strong example of how public agencies can use public-private partnerships in which a power purchase agreement provides the initial capital for construction.
    “This is a 25-year lease, and we pay a fixed price for the energy, they recover the costs for the investment,” said Chan, “We don’t have to come up with the initial capital, but we all realize the savings.”
    Chan said the situation is a win for the developer, customers and the environment, as is the proximity of the array to PG&E’s Sobrante substation, which is directly across the road, eliminating the need for additional infrastructure.
    “What that really means is, it reduced the cost of this project,” he said.
    Ward 3’s Young listed the benefits from the new solar energy project.
    “It’s really the electricity savings and the reduction in carbon emissions – [that] is really what Orindans are going to benefit from,” said Young. “And knowing that their community is helping move us to a clean energy future.”