Fall 2011

City of Brea to Save $13 Million with Energy Efficiency & Solar

The City of Brea recently unveiled more than 1.6 megawatts (MW) of solar energy generating systems across three locations that, when combined, comprise Orange County's largest municipal solar installations and are expected to earn the city more than $4.2 million in California Solar Initiative (CSI) incentives.

The efforts are part of comprehensive energy efficiency and solar projects expected to generate an estimated $13 million in net savings over 25 years, plus significant environmental benefits.
The savings have been immediate and the City has already seen results exceeding expectations. Two early examples are a 65% reduction in electricity costs at the Brea Community Center for the month of June and a 35% reduction at the Civic & Cultural Center.

The solar generating systems were installed by Chevron Energy Solutions at the Brea Community Center, Brea Civic and Cultural Center, and Reservoir City Pump Yard, the latter of which is expected to help mitigate future pumping costs.

The City, working in conjunction with Southern California Edison, also implemented a citywide street lighting upgrade, interior and exterior lighting retrofits and improvements to heating, ventilating, air conditioning and energy management controls to further improve the City's energy efficiency.

The City and Chevron estimate that the solar systems alone will cut the City's carbon emissions by 86,000 metric tons, comparable to removing 16,000 cars from the road. During construction, the project also provided more than 25 local jobs and 125 indirect jobs with an estimated $3 million boost to the local economy.

"The City of Brea's work with Chevron Energy Solutions will save millions of taxpayer dollars by cutting our energy consumption," said City of Brea Mayor Roy Moore. "This project positions Brea as an environmental leader in the county, and demonstrates fiscal responsibility by investing in long-term, sustainable projects that will benefit our community for decades to come."

This story came from California Public Utilities Commission’s August 2011 Go Solar, California! newsletter. To subscribe, visit: http://www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov/