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Council authorizes city manager to finalize NCPA agreement for Trolley Pass battery project
Summary
The council authorized the city manager to complete negotiations and sign a third‑phase agreement with the Northern California Power Agency for energy storage from the Trolley Pass project, with Santa Clara’s share projected at about 70% of the facility.
The City Council on Tuesday authorized the city manager to finalize and execute a third‑party agreement with the Northern California Power Agency (NCPA) covering battery energy storage capacity from the Trolley Pass project, a 400‑megawatt energy-storage development in San Bernardino County.
Council action delegates authority for staff to complete negotiations and sign a third‑phase agreement that will pass NCPA’s contract rights and obligations to participating members, including Silicon Valley Power (SVP). Staff told the council the arrangement lets NCPA act as lead counterparty with the developer and then allocate the project’s delivered capacity and related costs to agency members.
City and NCPA staff described the project as a 20‑year fixed contract for storage products with no price escalator, subject to commercially negotiated terms including development milestones, performance guarantees and liquidated damages for unavailability. Basil Wong of SVP’s resources team explained batteries help utilities meet evening peak needs, improve hourly emissions by shifting daytime renewables into evening hours and provide resource‑adequacy capacity.
Wong told the council that the Trolley Pass project initially offered 320 megawatts to NCPA and that, after internal review, participating members agreed to acquire a larger share so NCPA can own and dispatch the full 400‑megawatt facility. Under the third‑phase structure, Santa Clara’s allocation would be roughly 70% of the facility; staff estimated the total contract commitment associated with Santa Clara’s portion at about $983 million over 20 years in the paperwork discussed with council.
City staff and NCPA counsel said the contract includes a limited price‑adjustment mechanism tied to specified, extraordinary events (tax‑law changes or tariffs); if the developer seeks an increase above the negotiated cap, NCPA may refuse the request and the developer could seek contract termination under certain circumstances. Councilmembers pressed staff on operational control, liability for a fire or catastrophic event at the site, and how market changes would affect dispatch decisions. Staff said the developer would own and operate the facility and hold primary liability for construction and operations; members would hold contractual rights to capacity and pay their allocated share.
Councilmember Gonzales moved to authorize the city manager to complete negotiations and execute the NCPA third‑phase agreement; Councilmember Hardy seconded. The motion passed 6–1.
