Summary:

The Stockton Unified School District, located in San Joaquin Valley, has added solar parking canopies to 10 more campuses, bringing their new total to 32 sites. The 10 new solar projects, totaling 1.8 MW, are expected to produce approximately 2.68 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean electricity annually for the district. The District is offsetting 83 percent of their annual energy consumption and is expected to save over 38,000 ¹ metric tons of carbon emissions over the 20 years.

=============

Main Article:

Stockton Unified School District has unveiled the completion of their latest round of solar projects with ForeFront Power, a leading renewable energy provider for schools in California. The District, located in sunny San Joaquin Valley, has added solar parking canopies to 10 more campuses, bringing their new total to 32 sites. The 10 new solar projects, totaling 1.8 MW, are expected to produce approximately 2.68 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean electricity annually for the district. The District is offsetting 83 percent of their annual energy consumption and is expected to save over 38,000 ¹ metric tons of carbon emissions over the 20 years.

According to District Superintendent, Dr. John Deasy, "Stockton Unified is proud to announce we have taken another step closer towards energy independence. We are modeling the importance of saving our planet for our future generations of SUSD scholars." 

Conserving Energy and Budget

Stockton Unified is no stranger to sustainability, having pursued lighting efficiency and solar projects over the last decade. Having now completed their second round of solar installations, and the first with ForeFront Power, the addition is part of the District’s ongoing initiatives around energy conservation. The District recognizes the value that solar provides in hedging against unpredictable, potentially volatile energy rates in California due to changes in Time of Use (TOU) periods and Net Energy Metering (NEM) rates.

According to Steve Breakfield, Director of Facilities and Planning at Stockton USD, “We looked to do solar to be more efficient with both our energy usage and sustainability practices. We also wanted to cut down on costs and be more mindful of our budget, which comes from taxpayer dollars. We aim to be as prudent as possible in how we spend, and the addition of solar helps us make sure we don’t have to overpay for our energy.”

Thanks to the financing framework provided by Forefront Power, Stockton will be paying a flat rate for their solar electricity. Under the 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with ForeFront Power, the district is expected to save an estimated $2.6M in electricity costs over the term. For public entities such as school districts, having fixed electricity rates helps administrators manage limited budges more effectively and allocate funds to areas that need it most.

Swiftness of the Process

This decision to go solar a second time around was an easy one. Having previously installed 7.3 MW of capacity at 22 other schools in the District, the decision to go solar again was natural – just a matter of allocating both time and resources to move forward. The challenge for these new projects was that Stockton was seeking a different solar provider to add additional capacity and in a much shorter time frame.  

ForeFront Power’s development team, which has more than a decade of experience and has developed over 200 MW of renewable energy projects in California, was able to help Stockton realize these additional opportunities for solar. According to Breakfield, “It was a good process figuring out what would work. Everything went much more smoothly compared to the last time [we deployed solar with another company]. ForeFront Power evaluated the rest of the sites, walked them with us, listened to our requirements, and were realistic about what they could accomplish. If some sites pencil in the future, we will definitely do it again.”

As a testament to the swiftness of the process, Breakfield added, “ForeFront Power took this large portfolio of projects from signing to completed installations in well under a year. The experience of their team was evident throughout the entire process.”

With over half of their schools now on solar power, Stockton doesn’t plan to slow down. Plans for more solar are extending beyond school campuses, wherein the future, Stockton Unified looks to add more solar and are evaluating additional sites.

“Our team is honored to partner with Stockton USD on their next phase of solar installations,” says Go Mizoguchi, Co-CEO of ForeFront Power. “Not only will the community benefit from having more renewable energy, but our projects will also provide an on-site learning opportunity for students.”