Project At-A-Glance

Project Benefits

New $600 million dollar clean energy solar project in Imperial, paid for by SDG&E
Keeps IID’s power and water rates low – Solar Gen will pay >$60 million to IID to use their transmission system
New skilled jobs: more than ~300 during construction, ~30 permanent jobs
Better air quality – less green house gas equivalent to 21,000 fewer cars
More water for the Valley – project uses less than 1% of current water usage on each site

150 MW single axis tracking PV solar plant
Only solar plant on the IID system with a customer (25 year contract w/SDG&E)
- Solar Gen 2 pays more than $60 million to community of the Imperial Valley
3 sites totaling ~1,500 acres (less than half of 1% of agricultural land in the County)
Solar Gen 2 will own the land and return it to agricultural use as a permit condition
Customer / SDGE wants power starting in summer 2012 - construction would begin in early 2012

Solar Gen 2 has committed to employ local people and has also committed to establish a $375,000 scholarship fund to train local residents for these higher paying jobs.
Solar Gen 2 has committed to place its control center within Imperial County providing new high paying and high skilled jobs. This was not a requirement, it was a conscious choice intended to benefit the Valley.
Solar Gen 2 is committed to being a good neighbor and to respect the rich heritage of the Imperial Valley community - especially agriculture.

Will pesticide spraying or dust from plowing neighboring farms interfere with this project? Simply put, the answer is NO. PV panels are cleaned as a part of our regular maintenance.
If we allow this project to happen, we’ll lose all our agricultural land and heritage. Not accurate... Due to limits in transmission capacity, the maximum amount of land that will be used for solar is less than 2% of the ag land in the entire County.
You’re replacing farmers on the land. The land has actually been for sale for years and Solar Gen is now in the process of purchasing it. Others had the opportunity to buy it for a fraction of what we paid, but did not. Our investment improves adjacent land values by providing higher comps.
Direct and indirect job loss will occur. We estimate that Solar Gen will provide more jobs and more income than currently generated from the sites - our jobs are also higher paying skilled jobs.
Why here? We must locate next to transmission lines. The project sites were for sale for years. The premium price we paid on the open market is less than half of the value of prime farm land.