On March 28, community leaders and residents gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the completion of new solar carports at the Los Banos Community Center. The event signified the city’s sustainability efforts and growing partnership with Peninsula Clean Energy, which fully funded the project through its GovPV program.
The solar carports are expected to save the city more than $1.1 million over the next 20 years, with no upfront costs required from the city. The project was built using union labor and is large enough to power 25 to 35 homes, creating environmental and economic benefits for the community.
“This project is part of our mission to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by providing affordable, clean, and sustainable energy solutions to our communities,” said Peter Levitt, Senior Manager of Distributed Energy Resources Programs at Peninsula Clean Energy (PCE).
According to Levitt, the Los Banos solar project fits into PCE’s larger goal of developing 20 megawatts of local clean energy across its service area. Projects like these create new construction and long-term maintenance jobs, boosting local economies while helping cities transition from fossil fuels.
PCE contracted McMillian Electric, an all-union construction firm, to complete the carports. “Union labor utilizes very high labor rates, which supports local economic growth,” Levitt said.
The Los Banos project was made possible through GovPV, a PCE program that helps public agencies overcome common barriers to developing solar infrastructure. “We recognize that it is challenging for public agencies to get their solar projects built. Not a lot of vendors are in the space of serving these mid-size solar installations,” Levitt said. “But when PCE brings a multitude of them together, we can aggregate them into one much larger procurement, which makes it attractive for construction companies to bid on.”
Through GovPV, PCE handles everything from education and planning to financing and construction. The agency fronts all capital costs and offers cities a power purchase agreement, where they only pay for the energy produced, which lowers risk and cost.
The Los Banos solar system is expected to operate for 20 to 30 years, with an initial 20-year contract in place. PCE handles all maintenance, which is included in the pricing, so the city won’t be responsible for upkeep. If successful, the city can choose to extend the agreement for another five to ten years.
Beyond the carport project, PCE has already saved Los Banos customers more than $5.3 million since 2022. A major contributor is the Green Access Program, which allows income-qualified residents to subscribe to a nearby community solar array located just 15 miles east in Merced County.
“More than 1,000 Los Banos customers are subscribed to that project, which means they get to receive a portion of the benefits of that solar array, and that results in them saving 20 percent on their electricity bill,” Levit said. “This should result in several hundred thousand dollars in savings to those customers over a 20-year period.”
