New Bayview solar panels
today cutting city utility costs

Photo(s) by Luke Thomas

November 16, 2005

New solar panels are active this morning in the Bayview reducing city utility costs, following formal launch by Southeast community leaders and Mayor Newsom Tuesday.

"By investing in solar deployments, San Francisco is continuing national leadership in development of renewable energy programs and meeting a growing portion of the City's municipal electricity needs with clean energy resources," said Newsom.

Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, center, noted Southeast San
Francisco is home to heavy solar panel use with panels
visible on entire city blocks and area churches, with
Mayor Newsom and San Francisco Public Utilites (SFPUC)
general manager Susan Leal at her side.

The new solar array atop the Southeast Wastewater Treatment Plant will provide 11% of the facility's electrical requirements and is estimated to save $38,400 in annual energy costs, reported Susan Leal, general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC).

Those panels produced power equivalent to 200 homes, as officials plan access to $100 million funding for additional city solar panels approved by voters.

"By investing in solar deployments, San Francisco is continuing national leadership in development of renewable energy programs and meeting a growing portion of the City's municipal electricity needs with clean energy resources," said Newsom.

"Reliable solar generation benefits both San Francisco and the entire Bay Area region by reducing congestion on the electricity grid as well as improving air quality."

The Southeast Wastewater Treatment Plant's solar array reduces the use of fossil fuel generated electricity, sparing the environment from tons of harmful emissions.

Throughout the next 30 years, the environmental benefits of the Plant's solar generated electricity will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 3,000 tons.

These emission reductions are the equivalent to planting 843 acres of trees or not driving 7.5 million miles in the San Francisco Bay Area.

"Municipal solar electric deployments are reducing San Francisco's dependence on polluting fossil fuel generated electricity, Leal.

"Development of renewable energy resources in the Bayview Hunters Point community is especially important in a neighborhood that has long suffered from the impacts of polluting energy and industrial facilities."

The Southeast Plant treats more than 80 percent of the daily wastewater flow from San Francisco's sewer system. The Plant's new solar array will provide 11% of the facility's electrical requirements and is estimated to save $38,400 in annual energy costs.

In addition, the in-City power generation will strengthen electric system reliability by reducing San Francisco's peak energy demand approximately 6%.

The Southeast Wastewater Treatment Plant project will integrate solar power generation with energy efficiency measures to further reduce the Plant's electrical load.

The energy efficiency portion of the project consists of replacing 48 aeration mixers over the next two years with new units. The mixer replacement effort is projected to save 1,514,250-kilowatt hours annually and will reduce the site power load by 240-kilowatts.

"We laud San Francisco's leadership in implementing comprehensive energy strategies that integrate clean reliable solar electric power and on-site energy conservation," noted Dan Shugar, President of the PowerLight Corporation, which designed and built the Southeast Plant's solar deployment.

"San Francisco is demonstrating how local governments can improve air quality and reduce pressure on the electrical grid, while simultaneously saving taxpayers' dollars."

Those who made it happen,
from left, PowerLight president Dan Shugar, Susan Leal,
Gavin Newsom, and SFPUC commissioner Ryan Brooks.

During today's ceremony, City officials also touted the SFPUC's successful partnership to prevent statewide rolling blackouts this past summer through the California Power Authority's Demand Reserves Partnership Program.

The SFPUC participated in the program by identifying facilities with high-energy-use equipment that could be shutdown during peak summer power load periods.

When called upon, SFPUC facility operators performed equipment shutdowns for periods of up to three hours, achieving a reduction
in peak load of up to five megawatts in August and September, a 25% reduction in the SFPUC's peak power demand.

The Southeast Wastewater Treatment Plant's solar array is the latest renewable energy project sponsored by the SFPUC. In addition, the SFPUC recently approved a new 283-kilowatt solar installation at Pier 96 and plans further deployments at additional municipal sites, including Moscone Center West, the Northpoint Facility, Pier 50, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco Airport and public libraries, health clinics and schools.

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