A community garden in National City is one of 16 organizations that will benefit by receiving a portion of $1.2 million from the annual Community Clean Energy Grant awards program.
The Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center will use $100,000 it received from San Diego Community Power and Calpine Energy Solutions to install solar s and a battery energy storage system.
Jen Nation, executive director of the eight-acre greenspace and its nearby office that serves about 10,000 people annually, said the solar and storage project is expected to save the center about $400,000 in energy costs over the course of 20 years.
“That’s very significant because that’s money that can go right back into our programs,” said Nation. “As a nonprofit, funding can sometimes be hard to come by.”
San Diego Community Power is one of 25 community choice aggregation programs, or CCAs, that have sprung up in California in recent years. CCAs purchase electricity generation for residents and businesses in their respective municipalities.
San Diego Community Power is the second-largest CCA in the state, purchasing power for more than 950,000 s in the cities of San Diego, Chula Vista, La Mesa, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, National City and the unincorporated areas of San Diego County.
Calpine Energy Solutions works as San Diego Community Power’s back-office service provider, helping with billing and running the energy provider’s center.
The $1.2 million in grants issued this year triples the amount distributed in 2023.
“The works these folks are doing everyday is critical to building a healthier, more equitable and sustainable San Diego,” said Karin Burns, CEO of San Diego Community Power, which calls itself Community Power for short.
Community Power worked with the San Diego Foundation to help coordinate the grants. In its 50-year history, the foundation has distributed $1.9 billion by connecting businesses and philanthropic groups with nonprofits and other organizations.
“We’re at this sort of nexus between those who want to be charitable and help the community to those organizations who are on the ground doing great work,” said Mark Stuart, the San Diego Foundation’s CEO.
The Hammond Climate Solutions Foundation will manage the installation of the battery storage system and solar s at the Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center.
Other organizations receiving grants are the Chula Vista Elementary School District, Climate Action Campaign, Go Greenish, Grid Alternatives San Diego, Groundwork San Diego-Chollas Creek, I Am Green, In Good Company, La Maestra Foundation, La Mesa Park and Recreation Foundation, the MAAC Project, the Ocean Discovery Institute, SanDiego350, SBCS, the South Sudanese Community Center and the Suncoast Market Co-op.
