Indian Wells Valley Water District to Save $9.3 Million and Reduce Electricity Spending by 63%

Located in the high desert in east-central California, IWVWD serves a population of approximately 30,000 residential and commercial customers across 37 square miles. In response to years of historic drought, IWVWD enacted its energy program in the fall of 2016 to hedge against rising rates for its customers and ensure sustainable infrastructure and resources for generations to come. Keeping energy and operational costs low was a key motivating factor for entering into a project with a Southern California-based team from ENGIE, the number one provider of energy services in the world.

"With the rising costs of producing and serving water only expected to continue in the years ahead due to increasing regulation, operations and maintenance costs, and investments in upgrading infrastructure, it is important to seek opportunities to use energy efficiency and renewables as a significant opportunity to reduce ongoing costs," according to Don Zdeba, IWVWD General Manager.

With the program now complete and producing clean energy, IWVWD's energy program includes the installation of a total of 2.08 megawatts of solar photovoltaic (PV) projects across five water well sites and a solar carport system at the District Office. The solar systems at the water well sites are ground-mounted, fixed tilt solar PV systems to allow for optimal energy capturing. At the Administrative Office, the brand new solar carport system generates renewable energy while providing much-needed shade for cars in the hot desert sun.

To enhance comfort and efficiency inside of the District Office, ENGIE managed the installation of new LED lighting and the replacement of aging HVAC units. In addition to improving temperature control and the quality of lighting in facilities, these upgrades contribute to hedging against rising energy costs from year to year. 

To cover the upfront costs of implementing a large energy project at this scale, IWVWD took advantage of the Renewable Energy Self-Generation Bill Credit Transfer Program (RES-BCT), which allows local government entities with eligible renewable generating facilities to send energy to the grid and receive generation credits for other benefiting accounts within the District. As IWVWD celebrates the completion of the construction of their work, they now have greater control and flexibility over the amount of credit they can allocate each year to each site as a result of RES-BCT – extremely useful while managing fluctuating energy demands from site to site.

"Our District is very excited to have our solar program up and running," says Peter E. Brown, IWVWD Board Director. "Working in partnership with ENGIE, we have been able to take advantage of key funding mechanisms, like RES-BCT, to ensure that we continue to act as good fiscal stewards to our ratepayers – while also improving our sustainability profile at the same time."

"We have been very proud to work with the IWVWD team over the past several years – helping bring integrated energy solutions to actually address common financial challenges that many special districts in California face," shared Ashu Jain, Senior Business Leader for ENGIE Services U.S. "By using energy as a catalyst, ENGIE is proud to help partners like IWVWD provide reliable services for its direct customers – the residents and businesses across California."

Coupled with key energy efficiency measures now installed at IWVWD, the solar systems are expected to reduce carbon emissions equivalent to removing 574 cars from highways annually.

About Indian Wells Valley Water District:
For more information about Indian Wells Valley Water District, visit
http://www.iwvwd.com/

About ENGIE Services U.S.:
ENGIE Services U.S. is a national energy company that works with education, government, commercial, industrial, and other organizations. We deliver integrated Energy Effective™ programs that drive sustainable results. As part of the #1 energy services provider in the world, we provide an extensive set of energy and sustainability management services to thousands of customers throughout the United States. Over the past 40 years, ENGIE Services U.S. has provided more than $2.7 billion in savings for our customers. For more information, please visit https://engieservices.us or contact Lani Wild, Manager of Communications, at 415-735-9080.

ENGIE Services U.S. is part of ENGIE North America, which manages a range of energy businesses in the U.S. and Canada, including electricity generation and cogeneration, retail energy sales, and a range of services to help customers run their facilities more efficiently and optimize their energy use and expense. For more information on ENGIE North America, visit www.engie-na.com or Twitter.

SOURCE ENGIE Services U.S.

Related Links

http://www.engie-na.com/