Energy Conservation Projects and Programs

The Agency is dedicated to energy conservation and is currently planning or implementing many projects and programs to save energy, reduce operating costs, and reduce its impact on the environment.

Energy Policy
The goal of the Agency's overall energy program is to reduce energy usage, reduce energy-related costs, and reduce impacts on the environment. View the Energy Policy

Solar Power Generation - Obtaining Sustainability Through Solar Power

Administration Building Solar Project: Two acres of solar panels have been installed on the roof of the administration building and on carports in the Agency parking lot. The solar project will supply about 490 kilowatts to power the administration building, which currently houses a staff of more than 100. The total cost of the project is approximately $3.1 million. The Agency received a $1.6 million rebate from the PG&E Self Incentive Program to make the project financially feasible. The project is part of a renewable energy program that meets more than 90 percent of the Agency's peak, summertime power demand for water supply and transmission, sanitation and administrative facilities. View the Online Press Kit for the Administration Building Solar Project.

Airport/Larkfield/Wikiup Sanitation Zone Solar Project: A 528 kW DC kilowatt commercial photovoltaic (solar energy) system came online in March 2007 that will partially power the Airport/Larkfield/Wikiup Sanitation Zone. The state-of-the-art system is made up of 3,312 Sharp 180-watt modules and one SatCon 500kW inverter, ground mounted in three sections on the face of a reclamation pond that serves the Airport-Larkfield-Wikiup sanitation zone treatment plant. The system performance will be monitored by a display kiosk for real time production measurement. The system will help reduce global warming by displacing over 32 million pounds of carbon dioxide and provide enough power to supply 3,325 homes over a 25-year period. The Agency received a $1.7 million rebate from PG&E. The total project cost was approximately $4.2 million.

Sonoma Valley County Sanitation District Solar Project: In May 2007 a 1.042 DC kilowatt commercial photovoltaic (solar energy) system came online that will partially power the facilities at the Sonoma Valley County Sanitation District. Nearly five acres of panels, totaling 5,200 solar panels, have been built to meet at least a third of the treatment plant's power needs. The panels will rotate to track the sun in order to provide maximum solar energy. Feeding that power into the PG&E grid means an immediate one-third reduction in the total energy cost for plant operation and a future reduction of up to 30 percent. The total project cost was $7.8 million. About $2.8 million was immediately returned in a direct PG&E rebate. The rest of the money came from existing Sonoma Valley County Sanitation District construction funds. View a video of this project in action.

"Plugging into the future, today" with a Plug-In Hybrid

The Agency on June 4, 2007 at the Climate Protection: Everybody Profits III Conference at Windsor High School will unveil the newest member of its vehicle fleet, a state-of-the-art plug-in hybrid, nicknamed “Sparky.” The plug-in hybrid is the first to be added to a government agency vehicle fleet in Northern California.

A plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) begins as a standard hybrid. To make it a PHEV, a large battery pack is added onto the existing hybrid system. This allows the PHEV to operate as a purely electric powered vehicle at low speeds (0-35 mph). At higher speeds and when the additional battery has been depleted, the PHEV operates as a standard hybrid vehicle. The additional battery pack is recharged by plugging it into a standard wall socket. The PHEV can provide zero-emission and exceptionally quiet operation when traveling in towns and other emissions-sensitive areas.

Plug in hybrids are based on existing hybrid vehicle platforms such as Toyota Prius, Toyota Highlander and Ford Escape. An additional high capacity battery pack enables these vehicles to be charged from grid power and operate up to 30-60 km range without using the internal combustion engine of the vehicle. This enables the vehicle to operate as a Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV), in turn significantly helping to reduce urban pollution levels.

Water and Energy Conservation

The primary manner in which the Agency has reduced demand for electricity is through encouraging water conservation. Since water pumping accounts for nearly 15 percent of energy use in California, this is the first focus of the Agency's energy efficiency efforts. The Agency maintains an aggressive water conservation program which is funded through the rates that the Agency charges its water customers. The program then distributes those funds to the prime water contractors for projects and programs that they administer for the purpose of reducing potable water demand.
Water conservation is especially important during the hot summer months, when energy use and water use are high and both the Agency's and Pacific Gas & Electric Company's (PG&E) transmission systems are constrained as to their capacity to meet water and electricity demand.

Energy Efficiency

Testing pump motors efficiency: For many years, personnel in the Agency's Operations and Maintenance Divisions have tested the operating efficiency of pumps and the electric motors that drive them. Motors are rebuilt when their efficiency drops below an acceptable level. Even new motors are tuned by maintenance personnel before being placed into operation to maximize their efficiency.
Pumps go through the same rigorous processes, whether being rebuilt after much use or being fine-tuned before new installations. Agency staff have replaced many of the older, less efficient pump motors with newer high-efficiency motors.
The Agency has replaced many of its pool vehicles with smaller hybrid vehicles that use less than half the gas per mile traveled as did the vehicles they replaced.
Another efficiency measure currently being implemented is the replacement of larger pickup trucks with smaller, lighter trucks. These trucks use V-6 engines which get considerably better fuel mileage and reduce both operations costs and emissions.
The Agency's new administration building at 404 Aviation Boulevard in Santa Rosa was recently renovated. Included in these renovations was installation of energy-efficient lighting. Rebates were received from PG&E for installation of energy efficient ballasts and florescent bulbs.

Cleaner Technologies

Although many of the above energy efficiency and distributed generation projects contribute substantially to reducing emissions, other measures to reduce emissions include the purchase of vehicles that run on clean-burning compressed natural gas (CNG).
In addition, the Agency has reduced emissions by replacing two-cycle engines in much of its power equipment with 4-cycle engines.

Power and Water Resources Pooling Authority

The Agency recently participated in the formation of a joint powers authority called the Power and Water Resources Pooling Authority (PWRPA) to accomplish a number of energy cost-saving measures. The Agency now purchases the majority of its power through PWRPA and anticipates savings even during 2005, the first year of operation.
PWRPA pools the power allocations that 14 water agencies and irrigation districts receive from the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA). This allows users with demand during the winter months to purchase low-cost energy that would otherwise go unused by the irrigation districts.

Renewable Energy Sources

The Agency recently arranged for purchase of renewable landfill gas power generated at the Sonoma County Central Landfill to run it's facilities. This saves money, helps reduce greenhouse gases emitted as a result of Agency operations, and makes Sonoma County's water and waste systems more sustainable.