The California Energy Commission (CEC) recently issued a $9 million grant to TEC for Phase II of the Bassett-Avocado Advanced Energy Community (BAAEC) Project, which aims to provide locally produced renewable energy at-scale to disadvantaged communities in Bassett-Avocado in the San Gabriel Valley. This community will serve as the “site host” of the advanced energy community-scale prototype, which will distribute energy services on a “blockchain backbone.”
This innovative project will provide local renewable energy to residents within disadvantaged communities (DACs) while offering shared economic benefits, such as substantial energy cost savings and lower electricity rates. The project also aims to break down the barriers and the complexity of planning and permitting community-scale energy projects in order to standardize the process.
“We believe in a California energy future in which communities are energy-producing networks and clean energy is affordable and accessible for everyone,” says Craig Perkins, Executive Director at TEC. “This project is an exciting step towards that vision.”
This phase of the Advanced Energy Community project will include creating a resiliency microgrid that offers safety in times of prolonged power outages, installing EV charging infrastructure, developing community solar for clean and discounted electricity, and giving residents access and control via a mobile application for monitoring and managing energy use. TEC’s partners on the project include the County of Los Angeles, Clean Power Alliance, Day One, ActiveSGV, SensorComm Technologies, Aclima, UCLA IoES, Pivot Energy, greenlots, greencommuter, Grid Alternatives, Green Convergence, Sonnen, Community Electricity, and Space AI.
The project is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 64% and net grid electricity consumption by 96% for all project participants over a 25 year period and will help with the decarbonization of other communities across the state as it offers a model for producing local energy while ensuring that DACs are not left behind in the transformation of our energy future. Learn more about Phase 1 of the BAAEC project here.
