Energy – Central California

February 20, 2024 By Jennifer Energy 0 Comments

MASSIVE BATTERY FARM IN WORKS FOR SJ COUNTY

A battery energy storage complex that could provide the energy needs of 300,000 homes concurrently is being proposed 22 miles to the southwest of Manteca.

The 400-megawatt storage facility would tie into PG&E’s Tesla substation near the Alameda-San Joaquin County line.

As such, one day it could store electricity needed to help power homes and businesses in Manteca, Ripon, and Lathrop as California moves toward a goal of 100 percent “clean” energy by 2045.

Such battery storage farms are needed in order to save excess electricity generated when the sun is out, and the wind is blowing for use when solar panels and/or wind turbines aren’t generating power.

The Korda Energy Storage project will consist of 500 free standing batteries that are each 20 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 9.5 feet tall.

It will be one of the largest, if not the largest, battery energy storage farm in California when it becomes operational.

The project before the San Joaquin County Planning Commission when they meet Thursday at 6 p.m. in Stockton will be four times larger than a similar facility getting ready to move forward in Ripon.

The Ripon project with a capacity of 100 megawatts is being pursued immediately west of the Flying J Truck Plaza.

It is planned for a 4.9-acre triangle parcel bordered on the north by Santos Avenue, on the east by Frontage Road along with Highway 99, and Flying J.

A PG&E substation is located in the southern part of the property.

The Tesla mega battery packs — or similar batteries — will be placed in 11 rows. Eight of those rows will go the width of the property with eight feet between rows. The longest row will approach 600 feet in length.

Three shorter rows of battery packs will be place east of the Ripon substation.

The county project being proposed is south of Tracy along Patterson Pass Road some 2,000 feet south of Midway Road.

The 40-acre Korda site with be about 9/10th of a mile east of Interstate 580.

It is part of a 106-acre agricultural parcel. A $30,000 fee will need to be paid for withdrawing the 40 acres out of a Williamson Act contract that sets property assessments at a lower rate to help assure the economic viability of farming.

The 400-megawatt storage facility has a 35-year life expectancy. It is expected to be operational by 2025.

One megawatt, on average, supplies the needs of 750 homes.

For an idea of what that means, it is enough power for 26,000 plus homes or the equivalent of 11.5 cities the size of Manteca.

Manteca has roughly 26,000 housing units and a population of 90,000.

PG&E as of the end of 2023 had contracts for battery energy storage systems totaling more than 3,330 MW of capacity being deployed throughout California through 2024.

https://www.mantecabulletin.com/news/local-news/massive-battery-farm-works-sj-county/

July 24, 2023 By Jennifer Energy 0 Comments

Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit (48C) Program

The Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit (48C) program was established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and expanded with a $10 billion investment under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The Advanced Energy Project Credit provides a tax credit for investments in advanced energy projects, as defined in 26 USC § 48C(c)(1).

The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service, in partnership with DOE, have announced up to $4 billion in a first round of tax credits for projects that expand clean energy manufacturing and recycling and critical materials refining, processing and recycling, and for projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions at industrial facilities.

Approximately $1.6 billion of this allocation will be set aside for projects in designated energy communities. The program will provide an investment tax credit of up to 30% of qualified investments for certified projects that meet prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements.

https://www.energy.gov/infrastructure/qualifying-advanced-energy-project-credit-48c-program

April 19, 2023 By Jennifer Energy • Renewable Energy 0 Comments

Solar energy project extending onto Edwards Air Force Base becomes Kern’s largest

A new solar energy project combining almost 2 million photovoltaic arrays with more than 120,000 batteries has become the largest installation of its kind in Kern County. The $2 billion Edwards Sanborn Solar and Energy Storage Project, 57 percent of which is located on the northwest corner of Edwards Air Force Base, began generating 807 megawatts of electricity late last year for clients including every Starbucks location in Southern California. A ribbon-cutting took place last week at the military base east of Rosamond.

When the project’s energy storage component comes fully online later this year, it will be capable of delivering 3,287 megawatt-hours for a total interconnection capacity of 1,300 megawatts, according to the project’s New York-based developer, Terra-Gen Inc. The project stands out as the biggest in a county known for its extensive solar-power assets. The second-largest, according to Director Lorelei Oviatt of the Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department, is the battery-less Berkshire Hathaway Energy Solar Star straddling Kern and Los Angeles counties.

“Only in America, can we take barren land, embrace the power of the sun and create an engineering marvel,” Brig. Gen. William Kale, Air Force Civil Engineer Center commander, said in a news release. “So, take the time to reflect, see the great work that was done and understand the significance of this project and what it can lead to. Hopefully, this is just the spark.”

The military base will not receive power from the project, but it will benefit from added power-grid resiliency expected to reduce the area’s risk of blackouts of brownouts, said Vice President Simon Day, head of solar development for Terra-Gen. The U.S. Air Force will also receive almost $76 million in lease revenue after signing in November 2018 what’s known as an enhanced-use lease covering 2,600 acres classified as under-utilized at the base. The project’s other 2,000 acres are situated on land owned by Terra-Gen north of the base.

Day said that, during the 35-year term of the lease, the project will pay $135 million in property taxes. That does not include $22 million in sales taxes paid to Kern County or $11 million in sales taxes paid to the state.

Not all of the 17 entities receiving energy from the project have been disclosed. But besides Starbucks, Day said, buyers include a well-known grocery store chain, the city of San Jose, Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and the Clean Power Alliance, which provides renewable energy to customers in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Construction on the project employed 890 union workers paid wages totaling $315 million during a period of about two years, Day said. He noted that not one reportable safety incident took place during the more than 1 million construction hours involved. He noted Terra-Gen has almost three dozen operations and maintenance staff stationed in Mojave.

https://www.bakersfield.com/news/solar-energy-project-extending-onto-edwards-air-force-base-becomes-kern-s-largest/article_71b009b0-a800-11ed-ab92-1f26b22d6482.html

November 2, 2022 By Jennifer Energy • New Developments 0 Comments

Power play: State plans to build emergency power plant in Lodi

After last month’s unprecedented heatwave that caused an hours-long power outage, the City of Lodi and the State of California plan to build a facility to ensure a similar event does not happen again. The Lodi City Council unanimously approved partnering with the state to locate, develop, construct and operate a natural gas power plant during its Wednesday night meeting. The facility would create anywhere between 20 and 48 megawatts of emergency power and be delivered directly into Lodi, rather than be transferred through a third-party system, city manager Steve Schwabauer said. Although Lodi owns and operates its own electric utility, the city’s energy is currently delivered through three PG&E sub-transmission lines.

On the morning Sept. 8, a set of production relays on one of those sub-transmission lines failed at the substation located near Lodi and Guild avenues. Lodi Electric Utility staff replaced the relays almost immediately, but PG&E was required to approve the repairs, which took the entire day. With one relay down, the city said it was required to shed power, and it began implementing one-hour rotating power outages at about 4:40 p.m. that day. The outages lasted 61⁄2 hours.

On Wednesday, Schwabauer told the council that staff and PG&E are currently discussing whether the rotating blackouts were an appropriate solution to the equipment failure. “But in the meantime, we are subject to this happening again if another line were to go down,” Schwabauer said. “Electric utility assets are supposed to be constructed to be resilient enough to handle one element going down. In this case, the transmission lines are not able to handle one line going down.” Schwabauer said the new facility, to be funded completely by the state, would only generate power in the event of an emergency, and must be operational by the summer of 2023.

In addition, it would only be needed until about 2028, when PG&E’s Northern San Joaquin 230kV Transmission Project is complete. Formerly known as Northern San Joaquin Power Connect, the 230kV project involves connecting an existing PG&E transmission line into the agency’s Lockeford substation on Kettleman Lane just east of Highway 88. The project also includes building a new overhead transmission line from the Lockeford substation to a new switching station on Thurman Street in Lodi.

A location for the proposed Lodi power plant has not been identified, Schwabauer said, mainly because staff only learned of the project last week at the Northern California Power Agency Annual Conference. “The location question is dependent upon a number of factors,” he said. “It needs to be close to a substation. It needs to be close to a gas line. It needs to be physically possible to get a gas line to it. It needs to be physically possibly to connect electricity to it.”

Taking these factors into consideration, Schwabauer said staff is examining the feasibility of three locations: the existing Industrial Road substation, the substation at Lodi Lake near the water treatment plant and the General Mills facility. “This is a great opportunity for our community not to ever have to experience 6.5 hours of rolling blackouts, (that is) funded by the State of California,” he said. “It will, if it’s constructed, provide some relief to the state of California as well. It has a greater benefit to the state because it creates new (energy) generation.” While the power plant will be funded by the state, Schwabauer said the city will incur about $4 million in costs.

However, he said those costs will be reimbursed by the state to interconnect the power plant into the Lodi Electric Utility system. Other costs the city could potentially incur are land purchases or leasing the site, if the General Mills facility is chosen as the location, he said. “I think this is a wonderful chance for our city to take advantage of this opportunity, that is unprecedented,” Councilman Doug Kuehne said.

https://www.lodinews.com/news/article_2227a970-45e0-11ed-83d4-fbb725b1dbe3.html

November 2, 2022 By Jennifer Energy • New Developments 0 Comments

State plans to build a power plant near Modesto to avert rolling outages

The state plans to build a power plant near northeast Modesto to help fend off rolling outages starting next summer. The plant, fueled by natural gas, would kick on when demand threatens to exceed supply around California. It would be built on a Claribel Road site owned by the Modesto Irrigation District. The MID board voted 5-0 on Tuesday for a tentative agreement that would bring $13 million for use of the land over five years. The district eventually could buy the plant at a steep discount to feed its own electricity system. It already has a substation and transmission lines at the site. “Frankly, to get a deal like this on generation is just unprecedented,” said James McFall, assistant general manager for electric resources, just before the vote. The timeline is unusual, too. A new power plant normally takes several years to plan and build. The Claribel plant would be installed by Enchanted Rock, a Houston-based energy company that specializes in quick builds.

It would consist of several engines in a stack that could be turned on as needed, much faster than a conventional plant. The site is on the south side of Claribel, half a mile west of Oakdale Road. DWR plans to spend $2.36 billion on such plants around California, said an email from Ryan Endean, assistant deputy director of communications. The amount for the Claribel project is not yet determined. The program aims to keep PG&E and other utilities from having to impose intentional outages on hot days, as happened in recent years. MID is less vulnerable than many, thanks to its flat terrain and lack of dense forest.

The state would own and run the plant for at least five years, with an option for two more. MID could then acquire it for $15.5 million. The plant would have a capacity of 48 megawatts. MID’s total demand typically is about 650 megawatts on summer days with air conditioners and industries humming. MID could use the Claribel plant for its own emergencies when DWR does not need it during the contract term. District leaders said it would come in handy on days like Sept. 6, when demand surged to a record 760 megawatts amid 113-degree heat. That was 58 megawatts beyond the old record. “Just a month ago, we were a little concerned there,” Director Larry Byrd said. “… A little padding would help.”

DWR has long been in the electricity business, generating it at several dams and consuming it to pump water around the state. It was tasked with the outage prevention effort via Assembly Bill 205, enacted in June. The MID board still has to approve a formal contract with DWR and Enchanted Rock. The tentative terms call for completion by July 31, 2023. Along with the $3 million for use of the site, MID would receive up to $250,000 to cover its costs in integrating the plant into the grid. The district is part of an elaborate network for buying and selling electricity across many states. The state requires utilities to get at least 60% of their power from renewable sources by 2030 and all of it by 2045. That gives MID roughly two decades to use the Claribel plant if it opts to buy it from the state. Enchanted Rock has provided gas-fired plants to utilities and other clients around the nation, Chief Commercial Officer Allan Schurr said by phone. They include hospitals, grocers, computer data centers and others concerned about outages. Last month, the city-owned utility in Lodi launched negotiations for a plant of 20 to 48 megawatts. The location and financial terms have not been set. The City Council acted after a major outage amid the early September heat.

https://www.modbee.com/news/local/article267177091.html

September 13, 2022 By Jennifer Energy 0 Comments

Hydrostor Announces Key Milestones for its 500 MW Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage System in Southern California

Toronto, Canada – July 19, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – Hydrostor Inc. (“Hydrostor”), a leading long-duration energy storage solution provider, announced today that the California Energy Commission (“CEC”) determined that Hydrostor’s Application for Certification for its 500 MW/4,000 MWh Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (“A-CAES”) project in Kern County, California is Data Adequate. This milestone will officially initiate the robust public environmental review process for the project. The Willow Rock Energy Storage Center (“Willow Rock” and formally called the Gem Energy Storage Center) will be located north of the Los Angeles Basin near the community of Rosamond.

Also, earlier this year, Hydrostor received confirmation that the California Independent system Operator (“CAISO”) allocated the full 500 MW of resource deliverability for Willow rock. This enabled Hydrostor to continue ongoing constructive offtake negotiations with various counter parties, with the vast majority of project capacity now shortlisted or in exclusive negotiations. A-CAES is a breakthrough for long-duration energy storage, using commercially proven equipment and processes to provide affordable, large-scale, and emission-free long-duration energy storage. A-CAES operates similar to pumped hydro power, with the key difference being that it utilizes up to 10x less land and 20x less water, with less siting constraints when compared to equivalent sized systems.

Willow Rock will employ a peak construction workforce of 800 skilled workers totaling 2 million total work hours. The project will be a significant contributor to the local economy, providing over $500 million of regional direct and indirect economic impacts over its 50+ year life. Willow Rock will also be the largest stand-alone energy storage project in California. “Long duration energy storage (“LDES”) technologies are making significant contributions to ensure the reliability of California’s electric grid. It is imperative that California create strong investment signals and devise regulatory frameworks for innovative technologies like LDES to continue to expand clean energy markets and move us toward a net-zero future.” said Julia Souder, Executive Director, Long Duration Energy Storage Council. “Kern EDC is very excited to hear that Hydrostor has met this important milestone. Long duration energy storage is a perfect fit for Kern County as our region has led the way in the development of renewable energy in California”, said Richard Chapman, President & CEO of the Kern Economic Development Corporation.

Curtis VanWalleghem, Hydrostor’s Chief Executive Officer said, “Hydrostor is thrilled that one of its first large-scale commercial projects will be in California – a state that is long known for its entrepreneurial innovations and commitment to leading the clean energy future.” The CEC will be commencing stakeholder meetings in the Rosamond community next month.

https://www.hydrostor.ca/hydrostor-announces-key-milestones-for-its-500-mw-advanced-compressed-air-energy-storage-system-in-southern-california/

September 12, 2022 By Jennifer Economy • Energy 0 Comments

San Joaquin agency to receive $3.9M for hybrid electric buses

STOCKTON — San Joaquin Regional Transit District was awarded $3.9 million in grant funding from the Federal Transit Administration to expand its hybrid electric bus fleet. The expansion will allow RTD to enhance its service in underserved and marginalized neighborhoods in Stockton, the agency said. RTD is one of 12 local agencies to receive a share of more than $1.175 billion from the FTA’s Low or No Emission Vehicle Program, also known as a Low-No grant, designed to help transit agencies modernize their fleets with advanced technologies to improve air quality by reducing greenhouse gases.

The Low-No grant will assist in purchasing five new Gillig hybrid electric buses allowing RTD to expand and increase the service frequency of routes 525 and 576. These routes currently serve areas identified by the United States Department of Transportation San Joaquin County Census Tract as Historically Disadvantaged Communities.

Investments in these communities align with President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution District’s mission of improving Central Valley residents’ health and quality of life. “It is important we continue to invest not only in cleaner vehicles but also in the infrastructure needed to support them,” Senator Alex Padilla said in Tuesday’s media statement. “That is why I will continue to advocate for more funding to transition to buses that are better for our environment and public health.”

https://www.lodinews.com/news/article_b7cca754-1dd7-11ed-be94-2350439e491e.html

June 7, 2022 By Jennifer Energy • New Developments 0 Comments

Saint-Gobain Invests $32 Million to Upgrade Equipment in Chowchilla, California, Increasing Insulation Production Capacity by 13% and Reducing Carbon Footprint

Saint-Gobain, through its building products subsidiary CertainTeed LLC, is investing $32 million to upgrade equipment at its insulation plant in Chowchilla, California, allowing the facility to expand its production capacity by 13%. The new oven, new furnace and additional new equipment installed at the plant will consume less natural gas and electricity, ultimately reducing the facility’s carbon footprint by more than 4,000 metric tons per year.

The investments in Chowchilla were first announced in November as part of a broader $400 Million expansion of Saint-Gobain’s manufacturing facilities in the United States, and come only months after the company announced its global Grow and Impact strategy, which includes increasing its presence in key high-growth markets while reducing its environmental footprint. The furnace in Chowchilla is used to melt recycled glass and sand into molten glass which is eventually fiberized. The oven is used to cure binding material which holds the fibers together, allowing the insulation to assume its final shape and dimensions. The new equipment is more energy efficient than the plant’s current equipment.

As part of the expansion project, the plant has also installed a new oxygen generation unit which consumes 30% less electricity than the older equipment it replaces. Oxygen is mixed with natural gas and used at the plant to heat the furnace. “Our strategic investments in Chowchilla represent a major commitment to our customers on the West Coast for decades to come, ensuring that we will meet the need for our industry-leading fiberglass insulation at a time of unprecedented demand growth, all while reducing the plant’s carbon footprint,” said Andrew Goldberg, Vice President and General Manager of CertainTeed Insulation Product Group. “We will continue to strive to maximize our positive impact, for our customers and the communities where we do business, while minimizing our environmental footprint. We are grateful for the support we’ve received from our customers and the community, along with the hard work of the incredible team at our plant, as we begin this new chapter of our history in Chowchilla.”

A team of approximately 20 Saint-Gobain engineers and project management professionals worked for several years to plan the equipment upgrades in Chowchilla. An additional team of approximately 300 contract workers were brought on site to install the new equipment starting in January. The new equipment is expected to come online in February and March. This is the largest capital investment CertainTeed has made in Chowchilla since the plant began operations in 1978. Today the facility is home to 180 employees and is looking to hire additional colleagues in the coming weeks. Open positions include roles in controls, engineering, health and safety management, instrumentation, packaging and production management. A current list of job openings can be found on the company’s careers website. Dating back to 2009, the CertainTeed plant in Chowchilla has operated safely for more than four million worker hours without a lost time incident.

About CertainTeed
Through the responsible development of innovative and sustainable building products, CertainTeed, headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, has helped shape the building products industry for more than 115 years. Founded in 1904 as General Roofing Manufacturing Company, the firm’s slogan “Quality Made Certain, Satisfaction Guaranteed,” inspired the name CertainTeed. Today, CertainTeed is a leading North American brand of exterior and interior building products, including roofing, siding, solar, fence, railing, trim, insulation, drywall and ceilings. www.certainteed.com.

About Saint-Gobain
Worldwide leader in light and sustainable construction, Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures and distributes materials and services for the construction and industrial markets. Its integrated solutions for the renovation of public and private buildings, light construction and the decarbonization of construction and industry are developed through a continuous innovation process and provide sustainability and performance. The group’s commitment is guided by its purpose, “MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER HOME.”

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220215005271/en/Saint-Gobain-Invests-32-Million-to-Upgrade-Equipment-in-Chowchilla-California-Increasing-Insulation-Production-Capacity-by-13-and-Reducing-Carbon-Footprint

June 6, 2022 By Jennifer Energy 0 Comments

chevron launches carbon capture and storage project in san joaquin valley

Chevron U.S.A. Inc., through its Chevron New Energies division, announced it is launching a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project aimed at reducing the carbon intensity of its operations in San Joaquin Valley, California. Chevron aims to reduce its carbon intensity – the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted per unit of energy produced – by installing CO2 post-combustion capture equipment, capturing the CO2 and then safely storing it thousands of feet underground. This CCS initiative would begin at Chevron’s Kern River Eastridge cogeneration plant in Kern County, California. “At Chevron, we believe the future of energy is lower carbon. Reducing the carbon intensity of the energy people rely on day-in and day-out is well-aligned with the ambitions of the Paris Agreement,” said Chris Powers, vice president of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) for Chevron New Energies. “We are excited about the opportunity to collaborate and progress this CCS initiative in San Joaquin Valley, a region where we have lived and worked for over a century.”

Chevron has applied to obtain a Conditional Use Permit with the Planning and Natural Resources Department of Kern County and will continue to work with appropriate regulators throughout the process. In addition to the Eastridge cogeneration project, Chevron is currently evaluating and deploying multiple carbon capture technology demonstrations to mature more efficient and cost-effective capture solutions, potentially enabling future projects, not only for Chevron, but for other industries. “As Chevron advances to a lower carbon future, we’re identifying ways to advance our operations as well, so we can continue to provide local jobs, support the local economy, and generate local government revenue that supports critical community services,” said Molly Laegeler, vice president, San Joaquin Valley (SJV), Chevron. “We are excited about this Chevron New Energies project and fostering continued collaboration with local regulators throughout this process, not only to position the region to benefit from these lower carbon solutions, but that we continue to protect people and the environment. We believe this project has the potential to benefit the region on many levels and that Kern County is an ideal location for carbon capture and storage.”

An August 2020 report by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory that highlighted opportunities for California to become carbon neutral noted, “there are various options for geologic storage sites in the state, but we have identified the most promising first candidates in San Joaquin County and in Kern County,” due to the regions’ geologic and subsurface characteristics, as well as the existing oil and natural gas production.¹Chevron is also actively exploring additional opportunities to lower the carbon intensity of its SJV operations, including the blending of hydrogen with natural gas in combustion, and the potential use of other emerging lower carbon technologies, such as geothermal.

Project Support:
Kern Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Richard Chapman: “We have a long history of working with Chevron and have appreciated their significant involvement in our community and the role they have played in Kern County. We are excited to see their commitment to lowering the carbon footprint of their local operations and look forward to seeing the innovation and technology they plan to deploy. These efforts aim to ensure job security and workforce development opportunities and maintain the quality of life we enjoy here.”

State Building & Construction Trades Council of California President Andrew Meredith: “Energy transition efforts such as this project have the potential to create a significant number of good-paying jobs. There are also a number of skills in oil and gas jobs that are transferable to new energies, especially CCUS. We appreciate Chevron’s continued commitment to California and our workers.”

CA State Sen. Anna Caballero: “As we enter our hottest time of the year, we need to be sure we have enough energy to prevent brownouts and blackouts. This project is designed to serve a dual purpose: ensure we have electricity when we need it and help provide climate action for our Central Valley and California.”

https://www.chevron.com/newsroom/2022/q2/chevron-launches-carbon-capture-and-storage-project-in-san-joaquin-valley

February 11, 2022 By Jennifer Economy • Energy 0 Comments

CSUB in line for $83 million for energy innovation center in governor’s proposed budget

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) – Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his new proposed 2022-23 budget Monday morning, and it contains a nice plum for Bakersfield – a plum that could be worth a third of a billion dollars.

What’s the purpose of this seeming windfall? Addressing climate change and the vulnerable Kern County economy. The Kern County oil industry has faced unprecedented challenges over the past two-plus years as Sacramento has worked toward ambitious climate change goals.The number and severity of recently imposed restrictions on petroleum extraction by the state make it clear where this is all headed. That of course prompts the question – where does that leave the Kern County economy, which relies so heavily on the oil industry? We got an important part of the answer Monday when Newsom – in revealing his proposed 2022-23 state budget – announced his intention to give $83 million to CSU Bakersfield to research new directions in energy development as the state reduces its use of fossil fuels. “$537 million will be going to the CSU [system] with the support of the legislature,” Newsom said. “[Of that] $304 million [is] ongoing, and then new dollars [would be coming] as part of the budget…. On- time money, including a Bakersfield innovation center. Bakersfield, in Kern County, [is] at the center of this transition to low carbon, green growth. (It’s a) remarkable CSU [campus]. …. $83 million investment there.”

CSUB President Lynnette Zelezny said the innovation center will help chart the energy future of the state – and the nation. “We are here in the epicenter of energy for the state, for the nation,” she said. “This the right place for that work to happen. So what we’ve proposed was actually a building that will be at the center of research and development for energy innovation. I really do appreciate his trust in moving this forward. He has also given us money for additional faculty that will come to be part of this research center.”

Fourty-four new faculty, to be exact, taking up residency in the California Energy Research center – 74,000 square feet on three levels, with 17 laboratory spaces, including a fabrication lab. No groundbreaking date has been set. The funding is not assured. The governor said higher education will play a crucial part of the state’s plan to address climate change. “We’re very mindful,” Newsom said, “that if we’re going to sprint in this transition we’ve got to support a thoughtful framework.”

The governor’s proposed budget would also add $250 million to help workers train for and find new jobs outside the oil extraction industries. Zelezny says she expects that several institutions of higher learning will participate in that aspect of the plan. All together, that’s a third of a billion dollars that’s being directed toward helping Kern County move away from something that’s been part of its economy and its culture for more than 125 years.

https://www.kget.com/news/local-news/csub-in-line-for-83-million-for-energy-innovation-center-in-governors-proposed-budget/

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