Business View Magazine | December 2019

273 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2019 BANNING, CAL I FORNI A rates paid in California.” That’s because Banning Electric Utility, a municipal, retail electrical energy distribution utility with six distribution substations and 134 miles of power lines, serving nearly 13,500 residential and business accounts, is a member of the Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA), and, as such, enjoys the benefits of joint action through cost- effective planning, construction, management, and operations of electrical energy resources. Furthermore, Schulze reveals that the city is in the middle of negotiations for a public/private partnership with a company that is planning a 500-megawatt, solar photo-voltaic and battery storage project, that, if successful, will allow Banning to create 100 percent of its electricity via renewable energy. “With the partnership, it doesn’t just mean we’re buying renewable energy – we’re actually going to become a producer,” he exclaims. “With all the wild fires California has had, we’re experiencing public safety power shutoffs, and those PSPSs are being implemented by the large public utilities in response to high winds and dry conditions. With our electric utility, right now, being a consumer, we’re pulling energy into the city off transmission lines from Southern California Edison. With this new project, we won’t need to bring energy in off the transmission lines; electricity will be locally generated and going right into our substations in the city. And because this is a 500-megawatt system, we’re looking at generating about ten times the actual demand needed in the City of Banning, meaning we’ll have 425-450 megawatts of 100 percent renewable energy to wheel back to the market. And that’s the piece that’s going to change the dynamics for the city’s budget, because selling that much energy is quite lucrative.” “Along with that project, we are looking at a complete transition of our transit fleet from compressed natural gas to 100-percent electric, while adding approximately 1,000 electric vehicle charging stations,” Schulze continues.