California’s new solar project isn’t powering homes. It energizes your water

KERN COUNTY, Calif. — At the bottom of the San Joaquin Valley, a low-slung midcentury building perched on a golden-green hillside is the beating heart of California’s impressive water delivery system. For more than five decades, the Edmonston Pumping Plant has pumped water nearly 2,000 feet up the high Tehachapi Mountains, connecting water from Northern California to 27 million people in the southern part of the state.

The facility has 14 thunderous pumps in two wings the size of a football field and is one of the most powerful water lifting systems in the world. But it would require more than 800 megawatts of electricity to operate, making it among the largest single energy users in the state.

Now the equation changes. On a recent weekday morning, dozens of government officials and energy industry representatives gathered at the Tejon Ranch, across the street from Edmonston, to celebrate the shiny new plant that will help power the pumps. The 105-megawatt Pastoria Solar project from Calpine, owned by Constellation Energy Corp., represents the largest renewable energy project undertaken by the California Department of Water and is a major step in its plan. fully decarbonize by 2035, in accordance with the law of the land.

“The majority of Californians — equivalent to 1 in 12 Americans — get their water from the State Water Project,” said Karla Nemeth, DWR director. “To make that system net neutral by 2035, we need initiatives like the Pastoria Solar Project. If we achieve our goal of using clean energy while continuing to deliver uninterrupted water services, we will set the standard for other public facilities across America.”

The pumping station draws its power from California’s main electric grid, and that will continue. But the water department has signed a contract to take the solar energy produced by this facility, which is a common and well-known way for agencies and companies to clean their electricity.

The new Pastoria project is about two miles from the pumps. Its 226,000 solar panels sit on a 500-acre parcel and feed into a substation on the property. Although electricity does not choose its route, officials said that electricity generated nearby tends to serve nearby needs.

The solar plant is also located near a soon-to-be-completed 80-megawatt/320-megawatt-hour battery storage bank and Calpine’s existing 750-cycle natural gas plant, which company officials described as a “trifecta” of energy reliability. The four-hour batteries will help cover the gap during the hours when the sun is not hot, while the gas and steam plant will cover the rest.

“By combining solar, battery storage and a high-efficiency natural gas combined cycle plant, we are able to provide critical services at a critical point in the transmission system while supporting California’s long-term energy goals,” said Andrew Novotny, president and CEO of Calpine.

The water department has signed a 20-year agreement to buy electricity from the solar plant at a rate of $1 per megawatt hour. Pacific Gas & Electric has signed a 15-year battery bank deal for an undisclosed amount.

The project comes as California and the nation face rising energy demand fueled by the proliferation of intelligence data centers, putting new pressure on grids already strained by overheating and aging infrastructure.

It also comes as the Trump administration is trying to roll back federal climate regulations and accelerate the production of fossil fuels. The president last year announced an end to federal tax credits for solar projects, which he described as “expensive and unreliable.” Pastoria comes in just under the fence, as projects are due to begin construction in July or be operational by the end of next year.

But officials said projects like Pastoria represent California’s way to add more power quickly while staying on track with clean energy goals: About half of the State Water Project’s power needs can be met by its own hydroelectricity, but the other half will have to come from Pasciaria and similar efforts, said John Yarbrough, deputy director of the State Water Project. That includes another Kern County solar project scheduled to come online next year, a 100 megawatt Kyan solar project.

Pastoria Tiburius Substation in Arvin centers.

“We have a front seat to seeing the effects of a changing climate,” Yarbrough said. “It certainly gives us an interest in doing what we can to protect the country and reduce the causes of climate change.”

Yarbrough said the main benefit of the Pascia solar project is not savings but rather carbon emissions, as climate change fueled by fossil fuel emissions creates more uncertainty about California’s electricity. In fact, this project is likely to increase the cost of water for contractors who buy from the State Water Project.

That has created uneasiness among agencies, according to Jonathan Young, energy manager with State Water Contractors, a nonprofit that represents 27 water agencies in California, including the larger Metropolitan Water District that serves Los Angeles.

“In general, we support the direction DWR is going, but there are concerns about the cost implications,” Young said. The group estimates that DWR’s carbon offset efforts will cost its members $1.5 billion by 2045.

Those costs will fall on the taxpayers, he said, although it is not yet clear how much the Pastoria plan alone will add to people’s water bills.

The Pastoria Energy Facility sits beneath the Arvin Hills in Kern County.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

But Young said water agencies also recognize the need to address climate change — and that building these projects now could be the last chance to use the savings before the federal tax expires.

“At the end of the day, this is an additional cost to our members, and it faces many other affordability challenges,” he said. But they care more about reliable water delivery, so “if it means our members can still get and deliver water to farmers and villages, then so be it.”

Others were optimistic about the project, including Molly Sterkel, director of electricity supply, planning and costs at the California Public Utility Commission. He said projects like Pasitia show that the state’s clean energy plans can be achieved and “are not just on paper.”

“This is very important – it shows that these targets are credible,” he said. “Every year, we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, improving our air quality.”

California has brought 31,000 megawatts of clean energy resources online as of 2020, and has 22,000 megawatts of newly contracted utilities scheduled to come online by 2030, Sterkel told the crowd in front of flashing solar panels.

“This project is real,” he said, “and it’s part of the history of clean energy development in California.”