Renewable energy for one of the largest publicly owned utility companies in the US

In November 2018, Lightsource bp signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Sacramento Municipal Utilities Division (SMUD), one of the largest publicly owned utility companies in the United States. Under the agreement, Lightsource bp will finance, build, and operate a 16.5 megawatt solar farm within SMUD’s service territory in Sacramento County, California. SMUD will purchase all the electricity under the 25-year PPA.

The solar farm, called Wildflower Solar, supports SMUD’s renewable energy and carbon reduction goals. It will generate enough clean, affordable energy to cover the equivalent annual electricity needs of 2,624 homes in northern California. The project also supports SMUD’s Neighborhood SolarShares community solar program, meeting growing consumer demand for clean energy and locally sited solar.

Lightsource bp creates customized long-term land and environmental management plans for solar farms that aim to maintain, as well as develop, plant and wildlife habitats to provide a net gain for local biodiversity. The plan for Wildflower Solar will be to create a pollinator friendly solar farm, designed in collaboration with ecology experts to restore and conserve pollinator habitat. The project went online at the end of 2020.