WestLight Energy has announced receipt of the final piece of funding needed to build one of California’s largest community microgrids in Pescadero, a rural farming community of approximately 700 residents in San Mateo County that has long struggled with recurring power outages affecting homes, businesses, schools, and essential services.
Unlike most microgrids, which are designed to keep a handful of critical facilities such as hospitals running during outages, the Pescadero project is designed to provide energy resilience for nearly the entire town.
“When a community faces a challenge that doesn’t have an obvious solution, local public agencies like WestLight Energy have an opportunity to bring partners together,” said Shawn Marshall, CEO of WestLight Energy, in a statement. “That’s exactly what happened here. This project shows what’s possible when community organizations, local government, utilities and clean energy partners work toward a common goal.”
The final funding comes from PG&E’s Microgrid Incentive Program, a CPUC-directed grant program, which will contribute $3.5 million to the project.
PG&E will also provide up to $4 million for interconnection studies and required grid upgrades to enable the microgrid to safely island from the main grid. Those funds will be combined with $10 million from WestLight Energy and $3 million from the County of San Mateo.
The project is a collaborative effort led by WestLight and supported by Arriba South Coast as community liaison, the County of San Mateo’s Sustainability Department and Office of Emergency Services, and the Clean Coalition as a technical partner.
Construction is expected to begin in mid-2029, with service anticipated to start in mid-2031.
Read more here.
