Their home electricity rates may be skyrocketing, but as taxpayers, San Diegans will soon be shelling out less to power certain city buildings around town.
The savings will come by way of a ramped-up program to take more advantage of solar energy.
And why shouldn't the city that may as well be called “Sun Diego” look skyward to cut electricity costs and greenhouse gas emissions?
“The city's been in the solar business for many years, but we've been a bit passive,” says city Environmental Services Director Mario Sierra. “Now we're going to take a much more aggressive approach.”
So after about a decade of generating two megawatts of solar power, the city has approved a plan to triple that output to six megawatts and, as a result, to save taxpayers about 45 percent of what they'd otherwise fork over to San Diego Gas & Electric.
The San Diego City Council unanimously voted "yes" for the proposal Tuesday.
The city’s Maryland-based solar contractor, SunEdison, will install 21st century photovoltaic "arrays" on 25 facilities targeted in the first phase of the expanded program.
Those buildings include downtown's City Administration Complex and the police department's headquarters on Broadway.
Forty more sites are under consideration for solar grids once the first phase really gets up and running.
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All that came as welcome news to San Diegans interviewed Monday by NBC 7.
“Any time you can find an alternative source of energy, that’s good for the environment and going to benefit our community,” said downtown resident Lyla Altevers. "Why not?”
Said La Jolla resident Nick Gillaspie: “As long as the city’s not paying exorbitant fees, I think we should go to alternative power sources. This is the perfect place for it.”
