On July 1, 2014, the City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to create a CPAU-branded Community Solar Program. According to CPAU, “the primary objectives for the program are 1) to help facilitate reaching the City’s target of meeting 4% of its energy needs from local solar energy by 2023 (from 0.7% in 2013), and 2) to give all of its customers – including those who rent and those without sufficient solar access – the opportunity to experience and derive benefit from cost-effective local solar development.”
CPAU expects to purchase the full output of electricity produced by a 3rd-party owned, operated, and maintained solar facility resulting from the program and all associated attributes, including renewable energy credits (RECs) and environmental benefits. The desired capacity of a community solar facility is 1 to 3 MW (CEC-AC), to be interconnected to CPAU’s distribution grid.
The RPF is available here.
A pre-proposal webinar will be held Wednesday, July 9, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. PST (https://global.gotomeeting.com/meeting/join/891095109; dial in (712)432-1212; meeting ID 430-877-385). CPAU encourages all prospective bidders to participate.