ForeFront Power has completed Phase 1 of a planned city-wide solar project for Bakersfield, California. This first phase consists of a 2-MW solar portfolio located at five sites: the parking lot south of City Hall South, the Bakersfield Police Department Headquarters parking lot, the parking lot at The Park at River Walk, the parking lot at the City Corporation Yard, and at Mesa Marin Sports Complex. With an annual electrical output of 3.4 million kWh, Phase 1 alone is expected to save the City and taxpayers nearly $9 million in electricity costs over a 20-year period.

“We applaud the City of Bakersfield for the sustainability leadership demonstrated by installing 2 MW of solar energy to power city facilities,” said ForeFront Power CEO Michael Smith. “ForeFront Power takes care of every aspect of solar energy solutions for our public sector partners like Bakersfield. We want to give local government agencies an alternative to expensive, unpredictable energy expenditures with guaranteed performance and low costs from solar.”

The city’s energy demands are high and demands grow each year. With rates increasing as well, city staff has explored energy efficiency projects in recent years to reduce its reliance on costly energy from PG&E. This project will greatly reduce the cost of energy for Bakersfield, freeing up valuable General Fund dollars for other City Council priorities.

This phase of the project also put locals to work with 80% of the labor used to construct the infrastructure coming from contractors based in Bakersfield and the County of Kern.

News item from ForeFront