OAKLAND: Port of Oakland commissioners voted Thursday night to approve an $8.9 million deal to purchase solar power for the next 20 years. Under the deal, the port will buy about 11,000 megawatt hours of solar-generated electricity at $39 per megawatt hour from a solar farm in Lancaster, according to port officials. The arrangement will bring in about 35 percent of the renewable energy the port needs to comply with the state’s Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act, a 2015 law requiring publicly owned utilities to provide 50 percent renewable energy to customers by 2030.
The port manages the Oakland seaport and Oakland International airport and operates its own electric utility, which buys electricity and resells it to airport and seaport tenants at cost. The port is also looking to purchase other types of renewable energy, including hydroelectric, geothermal, wind and biogas, in order to be in full compliance with the law, said port spokesman Mike Zampa.
