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Hurricane power board backs recommending larger Fremont solar stake, citing batteries as primary value
Summary
At its meeting the Hurricane Power Board recommended the city council increase Hurricane's subscription in the Fremont solar PPA from roughly 5.05% toward a not-to-exceed 10% to capture more of the project's battery-backed capacity; the recommendation passed by voice vote and will be forwarded to council.
The Hurricane Power Board on Tuesday recommended that city council approve increasing the city's subscription in the Fremont solar power purchase agreement, citing the project's battery storage as the main operational benefit.
Utility staff described the Fremont project as "a 99 megawatt solar facility" with a "49 and a half megawatt" battery backup and a 25-year delivery term. Speaker 4 said the solar portion is priced at "$34.45 per megawatt hour" with the battery priced and billed on a kilowatt-month basis; the combined not-to-exceed generation quantity was presented to the board as part of the contract package.
Board members discussed tradeoffs including whether to buy a larger share of the solar-only output versus additional battery-backed capacity. Speaker 2 moved that the board "recommend city council that we increase our [subscription] under this up to 10%" (a not-to-exceed percentage on the contract). Speaker 4 seconded the motion. The board approved the recommendation by voice vote; no opposition was recorded in the meeting transcript. The motion will be forwarded to city council for formal action.
Supporters said the principal value of the deal is the battery discharge during the city's peak hours, which staff said would deliver up to roughly 2.5 megawatts of discharge at the city's proportional share during the four-hour peak window. Board members noted the 25-year term of the contract and discussed expected battery degradation over time.
Staff emphasized that the quoted energy price covers generation only and that transmission costs would be added separately. Staff also said subscription percentages are settled among participants during project settlements and that the city would receive a proportional share of generation and battery dispatch according to the final allocations.
Next steps: the board's recommendation will be transmitted to city council for a formal resolution and possible approval; staff said additional calculations and clarifications about transmission and settlement mechanics will accompany the item when it goes to council.
