Record-Bee staff
LAKE COUNTY ? Following a January commitment to explore alternative forms of energy for existing and new facilities, the county Board of Supervisors will consider an agreement with the Berkeley-based SunPower for solar power projects at the Lake County Jail, the Northwest Treatment Plant and Southeast Treatment Plant.
Tuesday”s BOS agenda includes a 9:45 a.m. discussion in which county Administrative Officer Matt Perry will present the result of almost a month”s worth of negotiations with the company. He said a chart he will present will show SunPower”s approximately $13.5 million bid is the best out of three other offers that came in when a request for bids went out in May.
That figure is to be paid over the next 20 years, explained Perry, and translates to an ultimate savings to the county”s general fund.
The agreement to be considered Tuesday will include a contract to purchase SunPower”s generated electricity at a rate of 11.5 cents per kilowatt hour for the first year of the proposed agreement. Perry explained that that translates to $479,000. “But if we didn”t have solar power, we would be paying PG&E over $538,000 per year,” said Perry, adding that both of those figures are based on projected payments to PG&E over the next 20 to 30 years.
Perry said if PG&E raises its rates by four percent in that time, the county will save about $1.6 million. If it instead raises its rates an expected six percent over the next 20 to 30 years, the savings will be $5 million.
“That money can be used for public service s that the residents of Lake County want, rather than going to PG&E,” said Perry.
One of the major pluses for recommending SunPower as a top candidate, said Perry, is that the company has a demonstrated ability to get solar up and running quickly. And time is of the essence since it needs to be operating by Sept. 30, 2008 in order to get the expected rebates from PG&E.
Headquartered in San Jose, SunPower has done projects in Europe, California and Nevada, according to its Web site.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
