San Jose – In addition to saving taxpayers as much as $70,000 a year, an innovative solar power project by the Santa Clara Valley Water District continues to receive winning praise from its water-industry peers.
The 200-kilowatt solar project earned the water district the 2006 Outstanding Energy Management Award by the California-Nevada Section of the American Water Works Association. The award is bestowed annually to water agencies recently completing projects exhibiting significant energy management as part of their water supply, treatment and distribution services.
“The solar-power project has proven to be a good first step toward greater energy independence, and it’s allowing us to wean ourselves from traditional energy sources that contribute to global warming,” said Larry Wilson, chairman of the water district board of directors. “The more we can do to reduce or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, the better we can protect our valuable watersheds and, by extension, our water supply.”
Since its installation in 2004, the district has generated enough energy to power more than 18,000 homes for one day and avoided producing more than 1.1 million pounds of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.
The district’s solar-power program was borne from the statewide energy crisis of 2001 as a hedge against future blackouts and surging electric prices. It was also a way to reduce demand on power generation that creates greenhouse gases.
It is designed to deliver 333,000 kilowatt-hours of electric energy annually – enough energy to meet the annual electricity needs of 80 average families – to provide about 20 percent of the district’s energy needs at its South San Jose campus.
Energy savings are estimated at between $50,000 and $70,000 a year, and will be no cost when the project is paid off in about 21 years.
