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    ForeFront Power completes Phase 1 of 2-MW Solar project in Bakersfield city operations

    Nov. 3, 2022
    The project includes a 2 megawatt-DC (MW DC) solar energy portfolio with installations in the parking lots of the Bakersfield Police Department Headquarters, City Hall South, The Park at River Walk, City Corporation Yard, and Mesa Marin Sports Complex
    Aerial view of solar canopies at Bakersfield City Police Department and City Hall South. Image credit ForeFront Power
    Aerial view of solar canopies at Bakersfield City Police Department and City Hall South. Image credit ForeFront Power

    ForeFront Power has completed the deployment of solar energy collection sites at five locations in the city of Bakersfield in California’s Central Valley region.

    The project is predicted to help the city and taxpayers save nearly $9 million in electricity costs over a 20-year period, according to the release.

    The deployment marks the completion of Phase 1 of the city’s planned Citywide Solar Electricity Generating Project and includes a 2 megawatt-DC (MW DC) solar energy portfolio with installations in the parking lots of the Bakersfield Police Department Headquarters, City Hall South, The Park at River Walk, City Corporation Yard, and Mesa Marin Sports Complex.

    ForeFront Power has signed a Power Purchase Agreement with the city to develop, own and maintain these solar energy facilities. The developer will charge a fixed, below-market rate for supplying electricity to the city for a 20-year period, with no additional cost to operate and maintain the system. This will protect the city from any future utility rate increases.

    "ForeFront Power takes care of every aspect of solar energy solutions for our public sector partners like Bakersfield. We want to give local government agencies an alternative to expensive, unpredictable energy expenditures with guaranteed performance and low costs from solar," ForeFront Power CEO Michael Smith said.

    The solar facilities deployed under the citywide solar project’s Phase 1 have a combined annual capacity of 3.4 million kilowatt-hours.

    The project also generated new job opportunities for the locals as 80% of the labor employed for the construction of the facilities came from contractors based in Bakersfield and the County of Kern.

    "City staff is always looking for innovative and forward-thinking opportunities that will keep Bakersfield ahead of the curve," City Manager Christian Clegg said. "By investing in this project, we have made Bakersfield more energy efficient, setting ourselves up for a future of fiscal responsibility."

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.