SolarCity has been awarded a power purchase agreement (PPA) as part of the Federal Aggregated Solar Procurement Pilot (FASPP) program that combines multiple mid-sized PV installation projects in northern California and northern Nevada. The first-ever joint project was awarded by several agencies, including U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and U.S. Forest Service.
The FASPP is a contracting solution designed to take advantage of economies of scale in solar installation with no up-front cost to the government. This project brings together multiple federal agencies and one private company to demonstrate that combined procurement and project management resources results in greater efficiency and cost effectiveness. This multi-agency energy procurement will not only save the government $5 million in energy cost, says GSA, it will also help achieve the Administration’s 2025 Renewable Energy Goal as outlined in Executive Order 13693, Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade.
Federal Chief Sustainability Officer, Christine Harada said of the first of its kind project, “This groundbreaking project will make it easier for federal agencies to use onsite renewable power while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and saving taxpayer dollars. This initiative is a great way to showcase how the federal government is leading by example and taking advantage of the incredible opportunities to build a clean energy economy, especially given the historic agreement in Paris.”
Under this PPA, SolarCity Corporation will install and operate the PV systems, spanning nine federal sites in San Jose, Menlo Park, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Bruno, Santa Rosa, Vallejo, Carson City and Reno, and sell power by the kilowatt-hour to the federal government.
DOE’s Federal Energy Management Program Director, Tim Unruh, added, “Innovative procurements like the FASPP effort are a critical element in DOE’s strategy to facilitate broad adoption of renewables at federal sites in order to achieve federal mandates, reduce taxpayer costs, increase the resiliency of power supplies, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The federal government leads by example, and the FASPP procurement has broad applicability in both the public and private sectors.”