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San Francisco's BART paying more in bet on solar power
bart-ceiling_100.jpg
Posted 11 July 2008 in United States | Energy Source | News | Transportation
Published 11 July 2008 by The San Francisco Chronicle (original article)

If you expect conventional energy sources to keep getting more expensive, investing in a renewable source that's currently more expensive - like solar - makes more sense. San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit is doing just that, committing to pay nearly double its usual rates per megawatt for power from new solar installations.

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Published 11 July 2008 by The San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/10/BATP11N5IL.DTL&tsp=1

[This is an EXCERPT: read the whole article here. -Ed.]

"BART plans to power two maintenance facilities and a passenger station in the East Bay with solar energy - at almost double the cost of electricity purchased today off the grid.

"But BART officials said the higher cost is worth the investment to help combat global warming.

"And in the long run, they say, the bigger bill for solar may prove fiscally prudent if - as expected - the price of hydroelectric and fossil fuel-derived power continues to escalate."

This move to diversify the transit agency's energy portfolio is part of a partnership with the company SunEdison LLC, which will build and own the solar installations, as well as implementing energy-saving measures as part of an agreement that could last up to 25 years. Officials at BART expect the cost of conventional energy sources to keep rising over that time.

Photo credit: Adriene Crimson Fonte

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