Pomona Unified approves interconnection agreement to reserve spot for 2.8 MW Diamond Ranch solar farm

The Pomona Unified School District Board of Education voted 4-1 on Jan. 20 to approve an interconnection agreement with Southern California Edison that preserves the district’s place in line for a proposed 2.8 megawatt DC ground‑mounted solar array on an 8‑acre site below Diamond Ranch High School.

The vote clears a near‑term contractual step that the district’s facilities staff said must be signed before the end of the month to keep the project’s interconnection slot. Fernando Mesa, assistant to the superintendent for Facilities Maintenance and Operations, told trustees the agreement is required to connect the array to the Heisman 12 kV circuit and that failing to sign would put the district at the back of the queue for limited interconnection capacity.

Why it matters: the board’s action preserves a project the district says could offset electricity costs across multiple campuses and reduce exposure to future rate increases from the utility. Mesa described the array as a ground‑mounted, south‑facing system of about 4,000 panels with an estimated DC capacity of 2.8 megawatts covering roughly 8 acres; the district would use a power purchase agreement (PPA) structure rather than buy and own the farm outright. "The interconnection agreement allows us to keep our place in line," Mesa said during the presentation.

Project scope and finance: staff and the district’s consultant estimated construction and related soft costs at about $14,000,000. Mesa and a Southland Industries representative said the PPA being negotiated would lock a per‑kilowatt rate in the neighborhood of $0.19, and that the district expects the arrangement to produce multi‑year savings compared with current average rates above $0.22 per kWh at many campuses. Staff presented a model showing first‑year credits to 20 district accounts and an approximate annual district savings figure that staff described as roughly $2,000,000 as production ramps and utility rates escalate over time; a Southland representative summarized a 25‑year savings projection in the tens of millions under the assumptions shown to trustees.

Board questions and concerns: several trustees pressed staff for more granular data on which district accounts would receive credits, how the savings were calculated, and what upfront financial exposure the district would face if the project later proved infeasible. Board members asked whether the interconnection deposit (presented to the board as approximately $298,000) would be refundable; staff said that deposit is typically reimbursed through the contractor and that other upfront fees are included in the PPA, but also acknowledged some negotiating details were still open. One trustee said they were not comfortable authorizing the agreement without a full, final total project budget and said the deposit represented giving staff authority while key cost details remained unresolved.

Environmental and operational points: Mesa told the board the district has engaged geotechnical and environmental consultants and will comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements and implement drainage and erosion controls, grading, fencing, access improvements and maintenance plans as part of the project. Mesa also said the district intends to include perimeter security, conduit‑protected wiring, maintenance contracts and vegetation controls in the overall project scope, and he described a proposed 18‑ to 24‑month construction schedule that would begin in the second half of the year if approvals proceed on schedule.

Legal and procedural notes: District counsel Michael Moore (Mr. Moore) advised the board that the Brown Act and related state rules do not prohibit holding a special meeting on a state holiday provided public notice requirements are met. "Nothing in the Brown Act ... prohibits a board from scheduling a special board meeting on a state or federal holiday," Moore said, explaining the district had legal authority to act on a timeline tied to the utility’s interconnection process.

Vote and next steps: the board recorded a 4‑in‑favor, 1‑opposed vote to authorize executing the interconnection agreement and proceed with continued negotiations on the PPA and project documents. Staff said next steps are to finalize contract language with Southland Industries (or a selected developer), complete CEQA and permitting steps, and return to the board with the final PPA and construction schedule. Mesa told the board the district would aim to sign the interconnection agreement by the end of January to retain the circuit capacity and then continue negotiating the broader financing and contract terms.

The district presentation and supporting spreadsheets — shown to the board and provided by staff during the meeting — allocated projected first‑year credits across up to 20 accounts and included site renderings, drone footage and an explanation of the RESBCT tariff framework staff said enables district crediting across multiple accounts.