DCE, Vesper Energy sign PPA for California’s Deer Creek Solar + Storage project
Desert Community Energy (DCE) and Vesper Energy announce that they have entered into a 20-year PPA for solar energy and battery storage. DCE will purchase all of the energy produced from the Deer Creek 50 MW Solar + 200 MWh Storage project. The Deer Creek Solar + Storage project is scheduled to begin construction in 2022 and completed in 2023. The project is located on 378 acres of land in Tulare County.
This is DCE’s first solar plus battery storage contract. The agreement will help DCE meet a primary goal of providing carbon-free energy to its customers in the City of Palm Springs while helping the state fight climate change and meet the mandate that 100 percent of California’s electricity come from carbon-free resources by 2045. DCE also recently signed three contracts for wind energy produced in Palm Springs.
Palm Springs Councilmember and Chair of DCE, Geoff Kors said, “We are excited that this power purchase agreement with Vesper Energy will help lock-in a significant portion of our energy costs providing rate certainty and saving our
residents and businesses $13 million -$50 million in cost savings.”
The project will generate nearly 190,000 MWh annually in its first year of operation, which is the equivalent of powering 15,500 homes with 100% carbon-free electricity. The battery storage component will allow for the solar power to be stored and discharged when power is most needed by the grid, providing much needed reliability and solar integration as well as significant financial value to DCE.
The City of Palm Springs has prioritized the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and DCE’s investment into the Deer Creek Solar + Storage project will help the city continue to improve air quality and achieve its climate action goals. DCE’s carbon free customers in Palm Springs have reduced greenhouse gas emissions the equivalent of taking 20,000 cars off the road.
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