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County moves to negotiate power purchase agreements for eight county solar projects
Summary
After reviewing eight candidate solar sites, the Board approved staff—recommendation to negotiate power purchase agreements (PPAs) for NEM2-eligible projects and to prioritize rapid contracting to preserve tariff value and energy-cost savings.
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on March 4 directed staff to begin negotiations on power purchase agreements (PPAs) for several county solar projects, prioritizing those already under Net Energy Metering 2 (NEM2) interconnection agreements to capture the most favorable compensation structure.
Brandon Cason, the county—s energy manager, presented an eight-site portfolio including ground-mounted arrays and canopies at county facilities such as the Northern Branch Jail, Foster Road campus, Calle Real campus and smaller installations at a shelter and fire station. Staff compared ownership vs. PPA models and detailed the financial analysis over a 20-year horizon. Ownership offered the highest long-term return but would require capital financing (estimated capital cost roughly $21.3 million). PPAs require no capital from the county and allow faster deployment; staff recommended PPAs for NEM2 projects and phased decisions for net-billing tariff projects.
Key points of board deliberation included the April 2026 deadline for NEM2 permission to operate, battery energy-storage costs and islanding/microgrid capabilities for resiliency. Staff said five of the eight proposed sites have NEM2 interconnection agreements and that negotiating quickly with developers could preserve NEM2 value. A county-contracted developer (NG Services) said it would perform pre-contract geotechnical and survey work at its own risk to help meet timelines.
Supervisor Hartman moved to approve staff recommendations to move forward with PPA negotiations for NEM2 projects and to pursue PPAs generally where appropriate; the board approved the motion.
Staff said subsequent steps will include contract negotiations (90 to 120 days), preliminary design, and if authorized later by the board, decisions about battery storage and whether to pursue ownership/financing for select sites. The projects are estimated to more than double the county—s solar capacity and could supply an estimated 60–70% of county electricity demand if all eight are implemented and paired with other procurement.
