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Livermore City Council will consider approving a power purchase agreement with Ava Community Energy at a regular meeting Monday for the installation of solar and storage systems at five city facilities, with energy savings estimated at $2.1 million over the next 25 years.
The solar photovoltaic systems would provide clean, renewable electricity to buildings including city hall, civic center meeting hall, maintenance service center, water reclamation plant and the police department.
Installations would include either rooftop solar, solar carports or a combination of both. Meanwhile, battery storage — planned for all the facilities except the water reclamation plant — would allow them to keep energy produced during the day for use at night or times of high energy demand, according to a staff report prepared by Livermore sustainability program manager Tricia Pontau.
This five-site project is expected to provide approximately 2,823 kW of solar capacity and 690 kW of storage to the city over 25 years.
Through the agreement, Ava’s PPA vendor, Green Bridge, would contract Gridscape to install, own, operate and maintain the solar and storage installations. This would mean no upfront capital costs to the city.
For Livermore’s part, it would pay $0.204/kWh for the solar power generated and $10/kW for storage capacity. Electrical upgrades and improvements by Gridscape would be included in monthly payments to Ava.
According to the report, the project would reduce the city’s energy costs over the contract term, support a transition to clean and local power and enhance energy resilience by allowing facilities to operate during a power outage.
The joint authority formed in 2016, working with cities around the Bay Area, including Berkeley, Fremont, Hayward, Oakland, San Leandro and Livermore to identify cost-effective solar and storage projects for municipal facilities. In 2018, Livermore began receiving electricity from Ava.
The authority is able to streamline the procurement process and reduce the risk and costs to jurisdictions because it represents many of them and holds a large portfolio, according to the report.
Pontau wrote, “The City’s total payments over the 25-year contract, in combination with regular electricity and natural gas bills, will be less than they would be without the project.” The cost reduction would be possible because of decreased time-of-use charges during peak pricing periods.
The final price for energy and battery storage is expected to decrease as Ava finalizes the construction designs and continues to negotiate with the developer on final costs for construction materials and related items, according to the report.
The council is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 10. The full agenda is available here.
*In other business
The council will also consider adopting a resolution to waive a 180-day wait period to hire Michael Pato , retired senior management analyst from the California Public Employees Retirement System.
He would be onboarded as a special projects coordinator to assist with reviewing lease proposals for city property with an emphasis on land use and infrastructure.
An agency may remove the wait period if a CalPERS retiree is “needed to perform work of a limited duration, work on special projects, or to perform work due to work exceeding staff capacity,” according to the staff report prepared by Livermore human resource manager Kristen Hilton.
