San Diego City Council Approves 25 MW Solar and Microgrid Battery Program for Civic Facilities

SAN DIEGO, CA — San Diego City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve the Civic Energy Resilience and Microgrid Program, authorizing a $70 million capital deployment to equip 45 municipal facilities with integrated solar photovoltaic arrays and commercial battery energy storage systems.

Islandable Microgrids for Emergency Resilience

The initiative will install 25 megawatts of clean rooftop and carport solar capacity paired with 50 megawatt-hours of lithium iron phosphate battery storage across city libraries, community recreation centers, police substations, and fire-rescue headquarters.

In the event of regional grid power outages or extreme heat stress on the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) grid, the facilities can automatically "island" from the grid, providing continuous power for municipal emergency operations and serving as air-conditioned community cooling centers for vulnerable residents.

Reducing Municipal Utility Expenses

City sustainability analysts project the solar-plus-storage installations will reduce municipal electricity expenditures by $6.5 million annually by discharging stored solar energy during peak evening utility rate windows.

Mayor Todd Gloria commended the council's vote, noting that the program accelerates San Diego's Climate Action Plan target of reaching 100% renewable electricity citywide by 2035 while modernizing critical civic assets.

Inflation Reduction Act Direct Pay Subsidies

The capital program utilizes the federal Inflation Reduction Act's elective "Direct Pay" clean energy tax provisions to recover 30% of project capital costs directly from the U.S. Treasury, with construction commencing in early 2027.