SOLARTODAY May 15, 2014
CHULA VISTA, Calif. (May 14, 2014) – Today, the City of Chula Vista held an event and ‘flipped the switch’ to their recently installed solar projects, totaling 500,000-watts of clean energy across three facilities. The city not only celebrated their own solar power projects, but also the launch of a new program, Clean Energy Chula Vista, that allows qualified property owners to install solar panels and other energy and water saving upgrades to their home or business and repay through their property tax bills.
“Chula Vista is dedicated not only to reducing governments’ greenhouse emissions, but also to help residents and their ability to adopter alternative energy and implement efficiency efforts that result in financing savings,” said Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox.
The solar event was held atop the City’s public works building where more than 1,800 solar panels were installed by Sullivan Solar Power, the top solar integrator in the San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) utility territory. The solar panels installed were manufactured less than 12 miles from the installation site.
“The initiatives that Chula Vista are leading provide not only environmental benefits and financial savings, but also economic growth to the region,” said Daniel Sullivan, founder and president of Sullivan Solar Power, “The three city solar projects provided work for 23 full-time Sullivan Solar Power employees, making fair living wages.”
The newly installed Chula Vista solar projects provide enough energy to power 100 homes, and will save the city over $4.1 million over the lifetime of the solar power system. A California Solar Initiative rebate check amounting to $619,959 was presented to the city by California Center for Sustainable Energy’s executive director, Len Hering. The mayor said the financial savings and the rebate will be used for road repairs, fixing potholes and taking care of business that the city would not otherwise be able to afford.
Chula Vista is the first city in the county to establish its own independently administered property assessed clean energy (PACE) program. The new citywide solar initiative, Clean Energy Chula Vista, allows energy upgrades retrofits to be financed through property taxes for no upfront cost and still receive federal incentives.
“Clean Energy Chula Vista is open for funding today, providing no-cost financing to all qualified property owners in the city, including homeowners, commercial, agricultural and multi-family dwellings,” said Crystal Crawford, regional director of YGrene Energy Fund, who has partnered with the city to administer the program.
An informational workshop on the new Clean Energy Chula Vista program is taking place for property owners on Saturday, June 28 at 11 a.m. in the Veteran’s Park Community Center at 785 E Palomar Street. The presentation will last one hour and lunch will be provided.