1. Hold a public hearing regarding three separate Energy Services Agreements - Solar and General Terms and Conditions of Energy Services Agreement (Power Purchase Agreements) with FFP BTM Solar, LLC to install, own, operate and maintain photovoltaic (solar) and energy storage (storage) systems at three County-owned sites: (a) Community Services Department at 292 W. Beamer Street, Woodland, CA - canopy system over parking area; (b) 44692 County Road 28H, Woodland, Yolo County Central Landfill (“YCCL”), Compost Facility - canopy system and storage; and (c) 44090 County Road 28, Woodland, YCCL - canopy system on property adjacent to County Road 28H;
    
2. Approve the Notices of Exemption from CEQA on the grounds that the proposed solar systems are exempt from CEQA;
    
3. Adopt a resolution making findings of energy savings pursuant to Government Code section 4217.10 et. seq., approving a fourth amendment to County Agreement No. 20-198 with Northern Recycling to amend the license agreement for the Compost Facility to provide for the solar and energy system services that will serve energy to the Compost Facility, and further authorizing the Director of the Community Services Department or the Director’s designee to execute the Energy Services Agreements, Energy Storage Agreement, a fourth amendment to Agreement No. 20-198, and any other documents, in substantially the forms provided, and to make corrections, clarifications, and technical modifications to the agreements, subject to approval by County Counsel, so long as any changes to the agreements do not result increased power purchase costs; and
    
4. Authorize the Director of the Community Services Department or the Director’s designee to take all further actions necessary to implement the Energy Services and Energy Storage Agreements.

In May of 2021 the Department of Community Services, Division of Integrated Waste Management (DIWM) released a Request for Information (RFI) for a potential photovoltaic (PV) solar electricity production project at the Yolo County Central Landfill. The purpose of the RFI was to expand the County’s renewable energy portfolio, reduce the County’s electricity usage from the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) grid, reduce the County’s carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions from operations consistent with County goals and policies toward helping achieve statewide emissions reductions, and save on utility costs. This RFI was used to establish a list of qualified proposers who would be interested to finance, develop, construct, own, operate and maintain PV solar system and potentially sell some of the power under a power purchase agreement (PPA). The County received, reviewed and interviewed eight proposals, which included ForeFront Power, LLC. DIWM learned during this process that FFP BTM Solar, LLC, a direct subsidiary of Forefront Power, LLC (ForeFront Power), and the School Project for Utility Rate Reduction (SPURR), a statewide Joint Power Authority specializing in cooperative procurement, would allow the County to take advantage of SPURR's Renewable Energy Aggregated Procurement (REAP) program. The REAP program allows member public agencies to piggyback on SPURR's competitively bid RFP to procure solar energy and battery storage services utilizing the transparent, pre-negotiated solar project pricing and terms of SPURR's REAP program. SPURR released an RFP and selected ForeFront Power as the best proposal among proposals received by Borrego Solar, Tesla, PFMG Solar, SunPower, Cupertino Electric, and Engie/Opterra following a competitive RFP process in 2017. To date, more than 50 public agencies have used SPURR's REAP Program to successfully procure solar energy and energy storage at sites across the state (some for multiple projects), including Fresno County, San Luis Obispo County, Ventura County, San Diego County, and Santa Clara County. 

The Energy Services Agreements are also authorized by California Government Code Sections 4217.10-4217.18, which were enacted to assist public agencies in expediting and financing energy conservation measures. Pursuant to section 4217.12, the County is provided flexibility in its contracting method for energy service agreements if the Board of Supervisors makes the following findings at a regularly scheduled public hearing:

1. The anticipated cost to the County for electrical energy or conservation services provided by the solar and energy storage systems at the Project sites will be less than the anticipated marginal cost to the County of electrical or other energy that would have been consumed by the County in the absence of those purchases; and
2. It is in the best interest of the County to enter into the Energy Services Agreements to implement energy-related cost savings and energy conservation improvements to County facilities.

The Clerk's office published notice of the public hearing on August 30, 2022, two weeks prior to the public hearing, which provided the date, time and location of the public hearing.

Currently, Yolo County's PV solar projects are all under the Renewable Energy Self Generation Bill Credit Transfer (RES-BCT) program which was developed in accordance with Public Utilities Code section 2830. This program requires the large electric investor-owned utilities to establish a tariff schedule that allows all "local governments" in California to generate eligible renewable energy at the location for one account and provide a bill credit to a "Benefiting Account" so long as both facilities are owned or operated by the same local government. However, RES-BCT program only provides partial retail credit for energy produced and does not provide the level of benefits that Net Energy Metering (NEM 2.0) does. Under the current NEM 2.0 program that was adopted by the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) on January 28, 2016, customer-generators receive full retail credits for energy exported to the grid after payment of a one-time interconnection fee, payment of non-bypassable charges, and transfer to a time-of-use (TOU) rate. Under NEM tariffs, participating customers receive a bill credit for excess generation that is exported to the electric grid during times when it is not serving onsite load, thus offsetting energy costs. In 2022, the CPUC announced significant changes to this program with NEM 3.0, which would reduce the overall customer benefits. If NEM 3.0 passes in a form similar to what the CPUC proposed last year, it will raise grid access charges, reduce net metering bill credits, increase installation costs, and diminish the overall value of customer solar installations. The financial projections included assume that NEM 2.0 installations are grandfathered in for the term of the power purchase agreements. Should solar policies change due to law or regulation, and NEM 2.0 installations are not grandfathered under NEM 2.0, this may significantly harm the fiscal forecasts presented herein. 

In anticipation of this potential change of NEM 2.0 to NEM 3.0, ForeFront Power has identified three County-owned projects sites that would result in significant cost savings for the County and the Agreements require ForeFront Power to submit the interconnection applications by September 30, 2022. The three identified sites are listed below, with associated battery storage also included for the Compost facility site:

Site #1: Yolo County Central Landfill (YCCL) at 44090 County Road 28H Woodland (see Attachment A). The project would install a canopy-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation system on a portion of the undeveloped Landfill soil borrow site that is adjacent the YCCL (APN 042-100-018, 43890 County Road 28H). The proposed project consists of installation of a total of 1,080 solar panels; however, the total footprint of the project is not expected to exceed one acre in size. The solar panels would consist of high-efficiency modules and would be mounted at angles to optimize sun exposure. The canopy would consist of steel columns with metal rafters that would support the solar panels. The canopies would have a minimum clearance of 13 feet 6 inches and arranged in two rows spanning west to east. The solar array would convert sunlight to direct current (DC) electrical power which would then be converted to alternating current (AC) by string inverters before being delivered to the PG&E distribution system. The AC would be transferred via electrical wiring housed in conduits buried underground; these wires would then be combined and interconnected to the Landfill's electrical distribution system. The total system size would be approximately 469.80 kilowatts (kW) (DC), or 360.0 kW (AC). Construction is expected to commence in November 2023. The duration of project construction would be approximately 6 months. The project would not involve the removal of any trees.

Site #2: Yolo County Central Landfill Compost Facility at 44692 County Road 28H Woodland (YCCL Composting Facility at Yolo County Central Landfill- see Attachment B). The project would install a carport-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation and system energy storage system within the existing paved Compost Facility Operations Yard at the County Landfill. The proposed project consists of installation of a total of 4,104 solar panels. The solar panels would consist of high-efficiency modules and would be mounted at angles to optimize sun exposure. The canopies would consist of steel columns with metal rafters that would support the solar panels with a minimum clearance of 18 feet and would follow the perimeter of the parcel boundary to the north and east. The solar array would convert sunlight to direct current (DC) electrical power which would then be converted to alternating current (AC) by string inverters before being delivered to the PG&E distribution system. The AC would be transferred via electrical wiring housed in conduits buried underground; these wires would then be combined and interconnected to the project site’s electrical distribution system. The total system size would be approximately 1,785.24 kilowatts (kW) (DC), or 1,440.0 kW (AC). In addiiton, the proposed energy storage project consists of installation of a new energy storage system at an existing developed site, which would consist of two battery units enclosed in locking battery containers and mounted on an approximately 24-foot 2-inch × 20-foot 7-inch concrete pad. Associated equipment would include a step-up transformer and controller/auxiliary equipment which would be enclosed in a fenced area. The battery storage system would be designed to accept up to 500 kW of electrical generation, and subsequently dispatch stored electricity during times of peak demand. The system would be electrically interconnected to an existing 480V switchgear via wiring housed in conduits that will run underground (via trenches). Construction is expected to commence in November 2024. The duration of project construction would be approximately 9 months. The project would not involve the removal of any trees.

Site #3: Department of Community Service (292 West Beamer Street, Woodland - see Attachment C). The project would install a carport-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation system and spare conduit for future electric vehicle (EV) charging system within the existing paved parking areas at the County Community Service Department. The proposed project consists of installation of a total of 576 solar panels. The solar panels would consist of high-efficiency modules and would be mounted at fixed angles to optimize sun exposure. The Carports would consist of steel columns with metal rafters that would support the solar panels. The carport canopies would have a minimum clearance of 13.5 feet. The solar array would convert sunlight to direct current (DC) electrical power which would then be converted to alternating current (AC) by string inverters before being delivered to the PG&E distribution system. The AC would be transferred via electrical wiring housed in conduits buried underground; these wires would then be combined and interconnected to the project site’s electrical distribution system. The total system size would be approximately 250.56 kilowatts (kW) (DC), or 220.0 kW (AC). The project will also include 400 feet of spare conduits to allow for five dual EV charging stations (10 charging stations) to be installed by Yolo County in the future. Construction is expected to commence in November 2023. The duration of project construction would be approximately 6 months. The project would not involve the removal of any trees.

ForeFront Power will retain ownership of the solar array systems throughout the life of the Energy Services Agreements (20 year term unless extended) and will also be responsible for all operation, maintenance, and repairs for each system for the duration of the Agreements. The County will not be charged for any expenses outside of the energy rate for the solar production of the array. Under the Energy Services Agreements (power purchase agreements), ForeFront Power will charge the County a fixed rate of per kilowatt-hour (kwh) for the solar production, which will remain constant for 20 years (see table below). This will protect the County from any future rate increases by PG&E and Valley Clean Energy. At the end of 20 years, the County will have the option to either extend the Agreements, purchase the systems at fair market value, or request that the systems be removed and the sites be returned to their prior state. In addition, the 500 KW AC Energy Storage Agreement for the battery storage system at the Compost facility will be for 10 years and the County has the option to extend this for additional 10 years. The table below summarizes the results of cash flow models that were developed by ForeFront Power and reviewed by the County, which shows and overall cost savings of $7,304,854. 
 

In addition to the costs savings anticipated above, the three solar array projects will help the County achieve its renewable energy goals. It would therefore be in the County's best interests to enter into the Energy Services and Energy Storage Agreements with FFP BTM Solar, LLC (Attachments E, F, G, H and I) and adopt the Resolution (Attachment D) making the requisite approval findings pursuant to Government Code section 4217.10 et. seq. and authorizing the Director of the Community Services Department or designee to sign and administer the attached Energy Services and Energy Storage Agreements. 

The Energy Services and Energy Storage Agreements provide for an early termination fee as liquidated damages that the County would be responsible to pay if the County opted to terminate the Agreements prior to the end of the term (excluding termination for defaults by ForeFront Power). The early terminations fees for termination prior to the commercial operation date (Year 1) and in Year 20 are listed below. The early termination fees progressively decrease each year over the term of the Agreements. After the 5th anniversary, the County also has the option to purchase each system before the end of the 20-year term with payment of a specified early termination fee. The early termination fees are specified further in Schedule 3 of each Agreement (Attachments E, F, G, and H). Staff would not recommend approval of these Agreements if there were known causes of concern or potential issues that may lead to termination and SPURR confirmed that it is not aware of any public agencies approving projects through its REAP program that have opted for early termination. However, staff wanted to be sure the Board was aware of the Early Termination Fee provisions as they extend over the life of the Agreements.  

With respect to the Compost Facility project, the County and Northern Recycling (Northern) entered into an agreement for construction and operation of the Compost Facility at the YCCL on or about July 21, 2020 (Agreement No. 20-198). Agreement No. 20-198 included grant of a license to Northern for use of a portion of the YCCL property for the Compost Facility and provides that Northern shall be responsible for providing all other utility needs, including electricity. Northern entered into a contract with PG&E in April 2022 to provide electric service for the Composting Facility. The proposed Fourth Amendment to County Agreement No. 20-198 (Attachment J), essentially passes through the County's obligations to purchase solar power from ForeFront Power for the Compost Facility to Northern, and Northern would continue to purchase any remaining electricity it needs for Compost Facility operations from PG&E.  Specifically, the Fourth Amendment requires Northern to pay the Energy Services Agreement rate of $0.1537 per kWh and a monthly fee of $5,136.55 for energy storage, in addition to a maximum fee of $0.02 per kWh to the County for administrative and other costs related to providing solar power to the Compost Facility under the County's agreements with ForeFront Power. The estimated revenue from this agreement will be $963,420 for the 20 year term of the Energy Services Agreement, which will be paid monthly to the County.

The County will own all of the renewable energy credits produced from all three solar projects.

CEQA

Staff have determined that approval of the three Energy Services Agreement and Energy Storage Agreement for the Compost Facility are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Site #3 (292 W. Beamer Street) is statutorily exempt from CEQA pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21080.35, which exempts the installation of solar energy systems at existing parking lots from CEQA so long as the area designated and used for parking of vehicles has been in use for at least two years at the time of the application for the solar energy system. As reflected in the descriptions of each of the solar projects above, the two YCCL solar projects (Sites #1 and 2) are exempt pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15301(a), 15303(d), and 15311 as further described in the attached Notices of Exemption (Attachment K). The attached Resolution authorizes staff to file the Notices of Exemption.