Solar Power - The Other Water and Energy Connection

For the past several years, my colleagues and I have been working on the water and energy connection -- specifically, the California Energy Commission’s conclusion that water systems consume 19 percent of California’s total electricity use.   Increasingly, this connection is shaping the thinking of water agencies.  This encouraging story in the San Diego Union-Tribune summarizes how water agencies are responding with a water/energy connection of their own – solar power. 

Agencies like the San Diego County Water Authority and the Inland Empire Utilities Agency are making dramatic progress in constructing solar facilities to help meet their energy needs.  According to Martha Davis, of the Inland Empire Utilities Agency, “When you come back to the individual water agencies, energy tends to be their No. 1 or No. 2 controllable cost.”  Particularly in Southern California, water agencies have high energy bills and acres of flat, sunny roofs on buildings and water tanks.  Increasingly, they’re covering those roofs with solar panels, saving customers money, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing the carbon footprint of Southern California water use.