Silicon Valley Power guarantees low-cost, reliable and stable energy to businesses in the City of Santa Clara. Energy reliability ranks in the top quartile nationally, and it is more than four times better than the Bay Area County average. Santa Clara customers enjoyed more than five times the amount of renewable energy in their mix during 2005 than those receiving the state’s average power mixture during 2004. Its power mix in 2005 consisted of 22 percent eligible renewable resources, which are expected to surpass 30 percent eligible renewable energy by 2007.
To improve reliability, SVP built the Donald Von Raesfeld Power plant (147 MW) and increased interconnective capacity by 40 percent with its new 230kV transmission line, both completed in 2005.
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Silicon Valley Power developed a 45-mile dark fiber backbone communication network to link the electrical substations that serve the community. The network's enormous capacity exceeds the City's needs, and SVP leases the speed and reliability of fiber optic infrastructure to telecommunication service providers, intermediaries, and end users serving this area.
For more information, please contact Debby Barry by telephone at 408-261-5486 or by email at dbarry@svpower.com.
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The Bright Start program helps businesses move into Santa Clara properties with energy-saving equipment already installed. The program also provides promotional incentives (up to 150 percent of normal rebate levels) for brokers, property managers, owners and prospective tenants to upgrade facility lighting and HVAC at a lower operating cost.
You can take advantage of an onsite, free energy audit with money-saving recommendations customized to your property. The audit highlights areas where businesses can become more energy-efficient by assessing electrical equipment, energy usage and needs.
Bright Start also offers Small Business Efficiency Services expertise, project management, equipment installation assistance and large rebates for the installation of energy-efficient equipment.
SVP’s Small Business program manages a construction process from start to finish. The Small Business team will:
- identify and implement cost-savings opportunities for lights and other equipment;
- prepare technical specifications;
- obtain competitive bids from qualified vendors;
- monitor construction;
- provide post-installation inspections; and
- act as your agent throughout the entire process, saving valuable time and money.
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SVP’s extensive rebate program enables businesses to use energy more efficiently, reduce energy bills and the cost of operations and improve the bottom line.
Lighting/Exit Sign Rebates
Replacing less efficient T12 tubes with T8s provides more light with fewer watts and a guaranteed average payback of 18 months or less, while enhancing productivity. The City of Santa Clara can help you reduce your electric bill with a lighting incentive plan.
HVAC Systems and Motor Rebates
Replacing an inefficient HVAC unit with a packaged, premium-efficiency HVAC system saves up to 40 percent on energy costs. SVP also offers a rebate for the upgrade.
Chiller Rebates
Businesses changing out an old, 500-ton costly chiller with one that requires less energy and lower maintenance receive rebates of $40 to $120 per ton, while keeping their work environments safe and comfortable.
Commercial Washing Machine Rebate
The cost of running a Laundromat or operating an apartment building decreases with energy-efficient washing machines and qualifies for a $350 rebate from SVP and its partner the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
New Construction Incentives
Building or expanding a Santa Clara commercial facility with energy-efficient equipment earns rebates and can help save $1 per square foot per month with the Bay Area’s lowest combined utility rates. If a proposed design for new construction exceeds California's Title 24 energy-efficiency standards by at least 10 percent, businesses are eligible for a this rebate.
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Capitalizing on a broader selection of customized, energy-saving rewards qualifies businesses for SVP’s Customer Directed Rebate for energy-efficient projects that decrease electrical usage at a facility located in SVP's service territory. Incentives are limited to 80 percent of the project’s cost.
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Santa Clara and its municipal electric utility are committed to the environment, energy-efficiency and conservation and clean power. Santa Clara Green Power supports 100 percent renewable wind and solar energy generation for just a penny and a half (1.5 cents) extra per kilowatt for small businesses and in 1,000 kWh blocks for $15 for large businesses.
After only one year, the program achieved top-in-nation performance for utility renewable energy programs in the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) annual rankings.
Santa Clara Green Power boasts of 5 percent participation–100 companies– including Agilent, Cisco Systems, Santa Clara University, Applied Materials, the Santa Clara Library and City Hall and Yahoo!
The City also hosts four solar energy programs, including the Neighborhood Solar Program that helps fund and place solar energy systems in non-profit facilities in the City, such as Haman Elementary School and the Valley Village Retirement Center.
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City of Santa Clara’s Commitment to Energy Conservation, Efficiency
Through the Modesto-Santa Clara-Redding Public Power Agency, SVP is purchasing wind energy from Portland, Oregon-based PPM Energy’s Big Horn Project in Klickitat County, Washington. SVP will receive up to 105 megawatts for the next 20 years under the new contract.
Emphasizing its commitment to a clean environment, the City of Santa Clara has endorsed a set of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Principles, which address the importance of reducing greenhouse gases (GHG), while maintaining high power reliability and low, stable rates. The principles were jointly developed by member utilities of the California Municipal Utilities Association (CMUA), a statewide association of local governments providing water, gas and electricity to California consumers.
The adopted principles, already underway by SVP, include:
- developing a specific GHG reduction plan;
- measuring and verifying programs that reduce GHG emissions;
- supporting standardized, mandatory GHG reporting; and
- educating customers on ways to reduce GHG emissions.
The City also is backing the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency (NAPEE), a collaborative approach whose objective is to create a sustainable, aggressive commitment to energy efficiency by gas and electric utilities, utility regulators and partner organizations to meet the nation’s energy needs.
If NAPEE is fully implemented, it could help defer the need for 40 new, 500-megawatt power plants, avoid GHG emissions equivalent to those given off by 35 million vehicles, lower the costs of air pollution controls and reduce the price of natural gas.
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