Sacramento Utility Receives Funding for Solar Highway

Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and local partners will receive $5 million in federal Recovery Act funding from the Department of Energy (DOE) for the installation of California’s first solar highway and other renewable energy projects.

SMUD ‘s project would utilize unused land along state highways, such as property near exit ramps and other public highway right-of-ways, to erect solar panels that would generate electricity. The electricity would be delivered via SMUD’s developing Smart Grid capabilities. This will be the first solar highway project in California and is expected to generate up to 1 MW of electricity. The project follows in the footsteps of a similar highway in Oregon, the first in the U.S. However, such installations are common in Germany, the world’s leader in solar power.

“The grant allows SMUD to demonstrate the nexus between the efforts of a public power utility and its program partners to bring vision to reality and value to customers,” said SMUD General Manager & CEO John DiStasio.

SMUD will also develop organic waste to fuel projects, including: a full-scale co-digestion process using food waste and sewage to produce biogas; low-NOx anaerobic digesters fed by dairy facilities to produce combined heat and power; and an anaerobic digester using pre-consumer food processing waste to create combined cooling, heating and power applications.

“Today’s project announcement serves as a milestone for those in the Sacramento community who have strived to push our city forward as a clean-tech capital,” said Congresswoman Doris O. Matsui (D-Sacramento), whose office helped secure the funding. “With the added aid of these federal dollars, local stakeholders are able to progress further in spurring the local economy through investments in clean, green energy alternatives. This is an excellent example of a partnership that will benefit generations of Sacramentans, and Americans, for years to come.”