Two California Healthcare Facilities Choose Long-Term Microgrid PPAs with New Developer
Two rehabilitative and nursing healthcare facilities in Los Angeles County are contracting with a new microgrid development player to create on-site power and smart energy management systems at their mission-critical sites.
Newly merged NextNRG Inc. will develop, own and operate the microgrids for Sunnyside Nursing and Post-Acute Care and the Topanga Terrace Rehabilitation and Subacute Care.
The smart microgrid installations will include on-site power, wireless EV charging and mobile fuel delivery services at the healthcare sites. Miami-based NextNRG, which arose out of the merger with mobile fueling firm EzFill Holdings earlier this year, will own and operate the complete system and sell electricity back to the facilities under separate 28-year power purchase agreements (PPAs).
Such arrangements, often called energy-as-a-service contracts, eliminate expensive upfront costs for customers and build in more predictable energy billing over the long run. For NextNRG, the Sunnyside PPA is designed to generate revenue at 25 cents per kWh with a 2% annual escalator, while the Topanga PPA will generate 22 cents per kWh with the same rate of price escalator.
The smart microgrids will combine battery storage capacity with generators, creating power resiliency and predictability, the company says.
"These projects represent our strategic entry into the healthcare market, where energy reliability is mandatory rather than optional," said Michael D. Farkas, founder and CEO of NextNRG, in a statement. "The 28-year contracted revenue from selling electricity generated by our owned infrastructure provides exceptional visibility and stability, while demonstrating our software's ability to manage and optimize power from any source.”
The announcement about the microgrids for Sunnyside and Topanga did not detail construction or operational start dates, but the details on the PPAs indicate that the long-term arrangement begins this year.
The healthcare market is ripe for microgrid and on-site power engagement, industry analysts say. Earlier this month, RENEW Energy Partners announced its project upgrading distributed generation and energy efficiency technologies for the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, part of the Massachusetts General Brigham research and healthcare system.
Overall, the healthcare sector includes about 15,300 nursing homes and more than 32,000 assisted living facilities nationwide, all dependent on reliable power for heating, cooling and medical equipment.
"The healthcare sector represents a massive market opportunity where our ownership model and technology create significant value," Farkas said. "These facilities cannot afford power interruptions, and our comprehensive smart microgrid solutions powered by machine learning provide the energy security they require while generating stable, long-term cash flows.”
In June NextNRG announced a partnership with renewable energy investment firm Hudson Sustainable Group LLC. The plan calls for collaboration to aid NextNRG in financing, developing and deploying a national portfolio of assets including distributed energy microgrids, utility-scale solar, battery storage, EV charging infrastructure and operating systems.
In February, around the same time that the EZFill merger was completed, the company closed on a public offering of five million shares of common stock at $3 per share for a $15 million capital proceeds.
About the Author
Rod Walton, Microgrid Knowledge Managing Editor
Managing Editor
For Microgrid Knowledge editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].
I’ve spent the last 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. I was an energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World before moving to business-to-business media at PennWell Publishing, which later became Clarion Events, where I covered the electric power industry. I joined Endeavor Business Media in November 2021 to help launch EnergyTech, one of the company’s newest media brands. I joined Microgrid Knowledge in July 2023.
I earned my Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. My career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World, all in Oklahoma . I have been married to Laura for the past 33-plus years and we have four children and one adorable granddaughter. We want the energy transition to make their lives better in the future.
Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech are focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.