The solar panel scam has been exposed in Santa Barbara.
“The district had bright eyes and good intentions when it first conceived of the solar project back in 2020. It planned for the 14,000 solar panels and six supplementary battery systems across 14 school sites to eventually generate roughly 90 percent of its power and save nearly $8 million in electricity costs over the project’s lifetime. Not to mention the reduced emissions, climate benefits, energy independence, and security against power outages.
Following their installation in the summer of 2022, all panels were supposed to be operational by now. However, two years later, all three high schools are stalled. The district anticipates a summer 2024 completion at the earliest for San Marcos and Dos Pueblos.”
On a minor scale, this is another example of government scams, like the High Speed Rail to nowhere.
Two Years After Installation, Solar Arrays at Six Santa Barbara Unified Sites Generating Nothing but Shade
Sites Are ‘Close to Going Online’ but Still Awaiting Utility’s Approval, Officials Say
By Callie Fausey, Santa Barbara Independent, 6/3/24 https://www.independent.com/2024/06/03/two-years-after-installation-solar-arrays-at-six-santa-barbara-unified-sites-generating-nothing-but-shade/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Indy+Today%3A+Two+Years+After+Installation%2C+Solar+Arrays+at+Six+Santa+Barbara+Unified+Sites+Generating+Nothing+but+Shade&utm_campaign=Indy+Today%2C+Tuesday+6%2F4&vgo_ee=Uk591sydyhgeM5h56C0tgJ9ahZa8MsxyplhO5BD5K%2Blccyhq1m0vBF4U%3AU4LX7smpLZE3voHQf7nI2nhgeunjeSyl
Many of the Santa Barbara Unified School District’s solar panels are, as of now, purely decorative. They provide shade over the parking lots of six sites, but no power.
The district does have eight school sites with solar panels on and working, including five elementary schools and three junior highs. However, it is still “in an internal review process waiting for final approvals to operationalize the remaining six sites,” said Lani Wild, who is on the project team for Engie North America, the utility company that manages the district’s panels.
The district had bright eyes and good intentions when it first conceived of the solar project back in 2020. It planned for the 14,000 solar panels and six supplementary battery systems across 14 school sites to eventually generate roughly 90 percent of its power and save nearly $8 million in electricity costs over the project’s lifetime. Not to mention the reduced emissions, climate benefits, energy independence, and security against power outages.
Following their installation in the summer of 2022, all panels were supposed to be operational by now. However, two years later, all three high schools are stalled. The district anticipates a summer 2024 completion at the earliest for San Marcos and Dos Pueblos.
The other four sites — Santa Barbara High, La Cumbre Junior High, District Facilities, and the District Office — are “close to going online,” district spokesperson Ed Zuchelli told the Independent back in February.
Engie, Zuchelli said, was requesting permission to operate as soon as possible. Typically, Southern California Edison (SCE) provides that permission within one month of request, so they were anticipating it by the end of March or early April. Suffice it to say, no dice — yet. The most recent update was Wild’s statement on May 23 that they are still “waiting for final approvals.”
Dos Pueblos and San Marcos are stalled because the district “cannot get the SCE solar planners based out of the Los Angeles area to respond to a tie-in request.” As to why it’s been taking so long, Zuchelli continued, “We have not gotten a clear answer from SCE and don’t want to speak for them, but the district is ready to move forward with the next step as soon as they are.”
David Eisenhauer, an SCE representative, could not divulge much due to “customer confidentiality,” but said they are actively working with the district and their staff to get the panels online, which takes “planning and engineering.”
“Connection planning is a very involved process, and it can take some time to get connected to the grid,” Eisenhauer said. “The timeline can vary pretty widely, and it depends on the complexity of the project.”
Concerned community members have been disappointed to find that the solar panels are “only ornamental,” with one Independent reader calling it a million-dollar “snafu.” The up-front costs for all sites was about $3 million, including about $1.2 million in contingency funds, plus $800,000 in up-front costs for their power purchase agreement with Engie — providing the energy and maintenance for the solar panels at a flat rate of $0.1326 per kWh for 28 years.
“Once all of the solar panels are online later this year,” Zuchelli noted, “the project is anticipated to provide S.B. Unified with 70 percent of its electricity use.”
On a more positive financial note, the district recently received $5.1 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Rebate program for 25 new zero-emission school buses. The funds follow on the heels of the district’s new partnership with Zum, a carbon-neutral student transportation company, to bus students to and from school.
“Zum is committed to working with SBUSD … to develop a plan in the next five years to transition the school bus fleet to electric,” the company said in its February announcement.
Statewide, schools are being pushed to adapt to cleaner energy and the changing climate.
For instance, a bill that would require the state to create a master plan for climate-resilient schools — Senate Bill 1182 — passed through the California Senate this May. The bill would direct and support schools to adapt their facilities and operations to align with the state’s “climate adaptation, decarbonization, and extreme heat goals,” including incentives for clean energy upgrades.
Nationally, the United States exceeded five million solar installations this month, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). According to data from SEIA and Wood Mackenzie, more than half of all U.S. solar installations have come online since the start of 2020. California, with two million solar installations, is leading the nation.
The five-million milestone comes only 80 years after reaching the one-million mark in 2016, which took 40 years to achieve following the first grid-connected solar installation in 1973.
The community can hope that all of Santa Barbara Unified’s panels will soon be online to join the growing grid.
