How California Schools Save Millions Using Energy Storage

On March 1st, San Diego’s third-largest school district, Grossmont, joined the growing number of school districts in California turning to energy storage to save on their energy bills. Grossmont Union High School District in San Diego’s east county region announced plans to install a 7.4 megawatt-hour energy storage deployment at 14 sites in 9 district locations in a partnership with California-based Green Charge Networks*. The installation is expected to save the district more than $6.4 million in reduced utility costs over the life of the project. The energy storage system and installation came at no cost to the district through Green Charge’s performance-based Power Efficiency Agreement™ (PEA) shared savings model.

“Electricity charges for the district exceed $4 million annually and take resources that could benefit students. Any time we can find a way to cut costs without impacting our students is extraordinary,” Scott Patterson, Deputy Superintendent, Grossmont Union High School District.

In California alone, energy storage will save Green Charge school customers more than $31 million in demand charge savings. Skyrocketing utility bills are forcing school districts throughout California to examine ways to creatively lower their bills. Retrofitting with LED lights, adding solar, and cutting back on air conditioning are just a few ways schools are working to lower their bills. However, addressing the root cause of increased utility rates — demand charges — is the only way school districts can insure their bills will constantly remain low.

Interestingly most people do not know what demand charges are nor do they know they can offset their demand charges with a simple solution, energy storage. Energy storage is focused on reducing the ongoing costs of demand charges, which can be up to 50% of a bill. Demand charges are part of every commercial electricity bill and are determined by the highest 15 minutes of use during a billing cycle. Even one sudden spike in energy usage can send a monthly electric bill skyrocketing.

Energy storage combines lithium-ion batteries and predictive software to level out the spikes in energy use caused by HVAC, lighting, pool pumps, etc. Energy storage recharges when energy is least expensive, and feeds energy back into a building during costly peak times. Energy storage flattens out the spikes in an energy bill and enables customers to pay the lowest possible price for energy at any time of day. 

Why are schools great customers for energy storage? Schools have consistent energy load profiles, with buildings peaking around lunchtime, and loads dropping after school hours when students and faculty go home. California schools including Northern California’s Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District (Santa Clara County), Butte College, and Peralta Community College District; Central California’s  Oak Park Unified School District (Ventura County) and Ventura Community College District; and Southern California’s San Diego Community College District have or are in the process of installing energy storage systems. MVLA expects to reduce its demand charges by $86,000 per school every year with the installation of energy storage. Every dollar saved is a dollar the district can spend in supporting greater educational opportunities.

“Our mission at Green Charge is to use energy storage to power the world efficiently and sustainably,” said Vic Shao, CEO at Green Charge. “Green Charge was founded on the principle that public and private institutions need additional capabilities to manage their energy costs. This partnership positively impacts schools operating budget and allows Grossmont to reduce their monthly electricity bills in the process.”

Interested in learning more about energy storage? Get educated at a free webinar on Wednesday, March 23rd, at 10:00 AM (PDT) as executives from Green Charge Networks, Mountain View Los Altos High School District, and TerraVerde Renewable Partners Present “Why K-12 California schools are adopting energy storage.”

In this webinar you will learn:

• How California schools are reducing electric bills by double-digit percentages at no cost.
• The right questions to ask when evaluating an energy storage vendor.
• What are demand charges and how do they effect my utility costs.
• Why energy storage and solar are better together.
• How does Prop. 39 my school district?

Featured presenters include:

• Stephen Kelley, SVP of Sales — Green Charge Networks
  Energy Storage and Your School: Reduce electric bills, generate revenues and provide scholarships for schools.
• Mike Mathiesen, Associate Superintendent Business Services — Mountain View Los Altos High School District
  Customer insights: Learn from the first high school district in the US to install intelligent energy storage and EV charging.
• Rick Brown, PhD, President – TerraVerde Renewable Partners
  Prop 39 for energy storage: Opportunity and process fundamentals.