Clean Power Alliance logoClean Power Alliance (CPA), the single largest provider of 100% renewable energy in the United States, has taken action to continue delivering clean, reliable power to the three million people it serves throughout Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. During its June 3 meeting, the CPA Board of Directors approved four long-term clean energy contracts which will add 256.5 MW of renewable energy and 163 MW of storage to CPA’s already diverse portfolio, resulting in long-term reliability and sustainability for the many communities CPA serves. The contracts, which include one Geothermal facility and three Solar plus Storage facilities, will provide enough clean renewable energy to power 177,153 homes for a year and avoid 258,827 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year.

To date, CPA has signed 19 long-term contracts with renewable and storage resources for terms of 10-20 years, totaling 1,601 MW of renewables and 878 MW of storage. This is enough energy to power 842,583 homes for a year and avoid 1,224,443 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions for a year. While most of these projects are solar or solar plus storage, the CPA portfolio also includes standalone storage, wind, geothermal, and hydro. Five of the projects are currently online serving CPA’s customers, with the remaining projects scheduled to come online later in 2021 through 2024.

“CPA is providing a model for California and our nation as to how provide the reliable electricity that people need today in an environmentally-friendly way that protects our earth for future generations,” said Ted Bardacke, CPA’s Executive Director. “Our customers expect reliability. The addition of these geothermal and solar plus storage facilities will allow us to better provide 24/7 reliable energy to address our customers’ needs.”

Of the four contracts the CPA Board of Directors’ approved June 3, two were with Clearway Energy Group. One of these contracts is with Clearway’s Arica solar plus storage project, and the other with Clearway’s Daggett 2 solar plus storage project.

The 15-year contract with Clearway’s Arica solar plus storage project will add 93.5 MW of solar plus 71 MW of storage to CPA’s portfolio. CPA will begin receiving power in December 2023, with expected average annual generation of 284,054 MWh, enough energy to power 47,342 homes for a year and eliminate 68,798 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year. In addition, it is estimated that this project will create up to 280 new construction jobs and three new permanent jobs.

The Clearway Daggett 2 solar plus storage project is an extension of the Daggett solar plus storage project already under contract with CPA. The 15-year Daggett 2 contract adds 65 MW of solar plus 52 MW of storage to CPA’s portfolio. CPA will begin receiving power in September 2023, with an expected average annual generation of 202,432 MWh. This is enough energy to power 33,738 homes for a year while eliminating 49,029 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year. This project will create approximately 240 jobs during the peak construction phase and five permanent jobs during the operational phase.

“We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with Clean Power Alliance and help California residents and businesses access clean, low-cost renewable power,” said Valerie Wooley, Vice President of Origination at Clearway Energy Group. “By combining solar and storage, Clearway’s Daggett and Arica projects represent a significant step forward in the state’s transition to 100% clean energy with the ability to provide reliable power to the grid.”

CPA has two existing contracts with Clearway, including the Rosamond Central Solar Project in Kern County pictured above.
The third contract the CPA Board of Directors approved is with NextEra Energy Resources’ Resurgence Solar II project, located in San Bernardino County, for a 20-year term. This project adds 48 MW of solar plus 40 MW of storage to CPA’s portfolio, with an expected average annual generation of 144,161 MWh, enough energy to power 24,026 homes for a year while eliminating 34,916 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

“We are pleased to work with our partners at Clean Power Alliance to bring additional low-cost, renewable energy to customers and economic growth to California,” said Matt Handel, senior vice president of development for NextEra Energy Resources. “This solar plus storage project will allow CPA customers to benefit from emission-free solar energy during more hours of the day, as well as improved reliability across the regional electric grid.”

While solar is a low-cost and plentiful renewable resource, it only generates during daylight hours. As such, storage is a critical resource to shift solar from mid-day to peak reliability hours. Alternative technologies such as wind and geothermal provide renewable generation during non-daylight hours.

The fourth contract approved by CPA’s Board of Directors is with Calpine’s ‘The Geysers’ geothermal facility, which will add 50 MW of energy and generate 438,000 MWh of energy per year, enough to power 73,000 homes for a year, while avoiding 106,084 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Under the 15-year contract, the project will begin delivering January 2022, providing reliable cost-effective renewable energy to CPA’s customers while supporting hundreds of jobs.

Located north of San Francisco on the border of Sonoma and Lake Counties, The Geysers is the single largest geothermal electrical operation in the world. A geothermal resource occurs when water deep below the earth’s surface is heated by exposure to hot, porous, and permeable rock resulting in dry steam or hot water. At The Geysers, dry or superheated steam is produced.  Steam production wells, some deeper than two miles, are drilled to tap this naturally occurring steam. Once the steam reaches the surface, it is piped overland to a network of interconnected power plants, where it spins conventional steam turbines that drive generators to produce clean, reliable electricity for California.

Calpine’s The Geysers geothermal facility. 
“Calpine and The Geysers are elated to support Clean Power Alliance’s renewable energy goals by providing green, reliable geothermal energy to your customers across Los Angeles and Ventura Counties.” stated Gevan Reeves, Vice President, Origination, Calpine Corporation.

“Geothermal energy from The Geysers is available every hour of every day, supporting Clean Power Alliance’s efforts to decarbonize the Southern California electric system and maintain grid reliability for years to come. Thank you, Clean Power Alliance, for choosing Calpine and The Geysers. Your purchase supports hundreds of hardworking employees committed to powering communities like yours with green, reliable geothermal energy.”

The Geysers’ contract follows closely on the heels of CPA’s recent announcement of a 15-year contract with Ormat Technologies Inc.’s Heber South Geothermal facility located in Imperial Valley, CA. Once the Heber South contract takes effect January 1, 2022, the facility will add 14 MW of renewable energy to CPA’s portfolio. This is enough energy to power 5,752 homes for a year and eliminate 8,911 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions for a year.

About Clean Power Alliance
Founded in 2017, Clean Power Alliance is the locally operated electricity provider for 30 cities across Los Angeles County and Ventura County, as well as the unincorporated areas of both counties. CPA is the fifth largest electricity provider in California and the single largest provider of 100% renewable energy to customers in the nation. CPA serves approximately three million customers via one million customer accounts, providing clean renewable energy at competitive rates. To view CPA’s 2020 Impact Report click here. For complete information regarding CPA visit cleanpoweralliance.org.

About Calpine:
Calpine is charting a cleaner future for California. Our state has set ambitious clean energy goals and The Geysers is helping energy providers meet their clean energy targets by supplying green, reliable, geothermal energy.  Located north of San Francisco in the Mayacamas Mountains, spanning 45 sq miles, The Geysers is the single largest geothermal electrical operation in the world.  With 13 power plants owned and operated by Geysers Power Company, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Calpine Corporation, The Geysers reliably supports California with up to 725 MW of clean, geothermal energy every hour of every day. Each year, Calpine’s Geysers operations prevent the emission of 2.4 million tons of carbon dioxide that would have otherwise been emitted by existing power generation facilities – this is the equivalent of removing 432,500 cars from the road.

Calpine and The Geysers are committed to sustainable management and through innovative recycled water projects, environmental problems for local communities are solved while simultaneously generating reliable energy for California from The Geysers.  To learn more visit https://gogeothermal.geysers.com/.

About Clearway Energy Group:
Clearway Energy Group is leading the transition to a world powered by clean energy. Along with our public affiliate Clearway Energy, Inc., we own and operate over 7.5 gigawatts of renewable and conventional energy assets across the country. As we develop a nationwide pipeline of new renewable energy projects for the future, Clearway’s 5 gigawatts of wind, solar, and energy storage assets offset the equivalent of nearly 8.8 million metric tons of carbon emissions for our customers today. Clearway Energy Group is headquartered in San Francisco, CA with offices in Carlsbad, CA; Scottsdale, AZ; Houston, TX; and Princeton, NJ. For more information, visit clearwayenergygroup.com.

About NextEra Energy Resources, LLC:
NextEra Energy Resources, LLC is a clean energy leader and is one of the largest wholesale generators of electric power in the U.S., with approximately 23,900 megawatts of total net generating capacity, primarily in 38 states and Canada as of year-end 2020. NextEra Energy Resources, together with its affiliated entities, is the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun based on 2020 megawatt hours produced on a net generation basis, and a world leader in battery storage. The business operates clean, emissions-free nuclear power generation facilities in New Hampshire and Wisconsin as part of the NextEra Energy nuclear fleet. NextEra Energy Resources, LLC is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE). For more information, visit www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.