CalChoice Associate Member, Pico Rivera Innovative Municipal Energy (PRIME), Launches Distributed Energy Resources Program

The City of Pico Rivera has commissioned Pico Rivera Innovative Municipal Energy (PRIME), the City’s locally run power provider, and TerraVerde Energy to launch a new, innovative program supporting the deployment of solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage systems at municipal facilities and, possibly, El Rancho Unified School District campuses. PRIME, in partnership with TerraVerde Energy, will evaluate the potential of installing the systems, which would offer cost savings and energy resiliency benefits to both PRIME and the customers it serves. The technical analysis and results will be complete in August 2020. 

“We are excited to develop innovative programs that support sustainability in Pico Rivera and align with PRIME’s goals of providing energy costs savings to customers, stimulating local economic development, and increasing local control,” said Mayor Gustavo Camacho.

Since its launch in September 2017, PRIME, an associate member of the California Choice Energy Authority (CalChoice), has focused on exploring and developing new customer programs that can create value for the community. PRIME’s mission is not only to provide cost competitiveness to customers, but also to achieve greater local control over electrical services and promote competitively priced renewable energy options for customers. PRIME offers three plan options: PRIME Power (50 percent renewable energy), PRIME Future (100 percent renewable energy), and PRIME Partner (available for solar/wind power generators).

PRIME is collaborating with TerraVerde Energy, an independent advisory firm that supports Community Choice Aggregators (CCA) like PRIME in developing programs that incentivize the deployment of Distributed Energy Resources (DER), such as solar PV, battery storage, electric vehicle charging stations, and smart thermostats.

The City has identified 26 municipal facilities and school district sites that will be considered for hosting DERs: small, localized electric generation systems. These modular systems—such as rooftop solar, battery storage, and electric vehicle chargers—connect directly to the grid that delivers electricity from producers to consumers. With support from TerraVerde, PRIME can implement a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) made up of solar and storage DERs at the proposed sites. The VPP would relieve the grid during peak times and minimize the flow changes of renewable energy resources, resulting in financial and resiliency advantages for PRIME customers and the City of Pico Rivera.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with PRIME and to support their vision of bringing solar plus storage enabled resiliency to the Pico Rivera community,” said Ali Chehrehsaz, CEO, TerraVerde Energy. “Now more than ever we need to come together and invest in our communities and build toward a clean and resilient future. We are proud of this partnership and look forward to providing PRIME with intelligent and actionable analysis based on comprehensive study of the City’s building usage data, retail and wholesale electricity costs, and ancillary market programs.”

About PRIME

Pico Rivera Innovative Municipal Energy (PRIME) is the City of Pico Rivera’s locally run power provider. Pico Rivera promotes power alternatives, resource conservation, and smart energy consumption. ​With a lofty goal of creating the most innovative, decentralized modern energy platform in the state, PRIME is determined to deliver smarter, cleaner energy programs for its customers, to promote the growth of cleaner energy opportunities, and stimulate local development. PRIME is equally committed to helping both the environment and the local economy. Learn more at poweredbyprime.org.

About CalChoice
CalChoice offers support for local governments in every phase of the CCA program
implementation process, providing feasibility services to determine whether a CCA program is appropriate, developing implementation plans for members to submit to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and managing the implementation process to launch the CCA program, as well as continuing to support members once their CCA program becomes operational. To learn more about partnering opportunities with CalChoice, please visit www.CaliforniaChoiceEnergyAuthority.com.