Yucaipa‑Calimesa board approves $3.5 million SGIP battery storage project for high school

The Yucaipa‑Calimesa Joint Unified School District board voted unanimously to accept a Self‑Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) award and approve an agreement to install a battery energy storage system (BESS) at the district high school.

District staff said the SGIP award brings about $3,500,000 to support the BESS, which will store power from the district’s solar arrays and enable the high school to remain powered during outages and extended public safety power shutoffs. "This system will allow you to have a high school to stay powered during outages by storing and using energy from our solar arrays," Adam Johnson told the board, adding that the BESS is designed to work alongside the natural‑gas generator to boost reliability.

A representative from SoCal West Coast Electric, Andrew Burchard, described the regulatory and construction timeline: DSA (Division of the State Architect) submittal and approval is expected to take about six months and, once permitted, construction should take approximately 18 months, making the total start‑to‑finish timeline roughly 18 months after DSA clearance. "We expect that process to take approximately 6 months," Burchard said of the DSA review, and later summarized the construction estimate.

Board members asked about funding and whether the SGIP funds were secure. Burchard said the program is administered through the California Public Utilities Commission and that funds are reserved and held by administrators: "The money is already reserved and set aside…in an escrow account collecting interest," he said. District staff noted the project requires some district contribution or matching funds and that staff will work through internal feasibility and prioritization for future sites.

Why it matters: the BESS is intended to maintain critical campus services during outages and reduce electricity costs by discharging stored energy during peak pricing. Staff also noted that several other district sites — including Parkview, Mesa View and Valley Elementary — may qualify for SGIP funding if pursued in future rounds, subject to feasibility and funding availability.

The motion to accept the SGIP award and authorize agreement implementation was moved by Board Member Bannister and seconded by Debbie Miller; the board approved the item 5‑0. Staff said the district will return with implementation details and any required matching fund estimates.

Next steps: staff will proceed with permit and DSA submittals, refine cost‑sharing requirements and report back to the board as milestones are reached.