Editor's Choice

Temecula Valley Schools to Issue Microgrid RFP

Oct. 5, 2020

California’s Temecula Valley Unified School District is expected to issue a request for proposals (RFP) this week for two solar and storage microgrids, according to Sage Energy Consulting.

Elisa Wood

California’s Temecula Valley Unified School District is expected to issue a request for proposals (RFP) this week for two solar and storage microgrids, according to Sage Energy Consulting.

The district, which provides public education in Riverside County, plans to install one of the microgrids at a new elementary/middle school being developed in Winchester, and the other at an elementary school being modernized in Temecula.

As detailed by Sage Energy in a notice Friday, the project includes:

A roof-mounted net-metered solar photovoltaic and battery energy storage system microgrid located at K8 STEAM Academy.
A canopy‑mounted net-metered solar photovoltaic and battery energy storage system microgrid located at the Rancho Elementary School

The district will seek a contract with one firm for construction at both sites and offer an option to also operate and maintain them. Temecula Valley designed electrical infrastructure to accommodate the solar PV and battery microgrids and is undertaking initial site preparation work.

To participate, bidders must apply to prequalify by October 23 and achieve prequalification by October 30.

The RFP also requires bidders meet other requirements, including having designed, constructed, and achieved commercial operation, within the last five years, for at least three solar PV projects of 200 kW DC or larger for a California public school district or other project under the purview of the Division of the State Architect (DSA).

The school district will choose the winner based on the proposal’s value under a scoring matrix.

According to the preliminary schedule, the school district will release the microgrid solicitation October 8 with a November 6 deadline for proposals. The district expects to notify the top vendor the week of November 24 and hopes to approve a contract by December 15. Construction would begin March 2021 with the intent of putting the microgrids into commercial operation August 2021.

The RFP will be released to interested firms through the district’s website.

The contact for more information is [email protected].

Track news about microgrid solicitations by subscribing to the free Microgrid Knowledge newsletter.

About the Author

Elisa Wood | Editor-in-Chief

Elisa Wood is an award-winning writer and editor who specializes in the energy industry. She is chief editor and co-founder of Microgrid Knowledge and serves as co-host of the publication’s popular conference series. She also co-founded RealEnergyWriters.com, where she continues to lead a team of energy writers who produce content for energy companies and advocacy organizations.

She has been writing about energy for more than two decades and is published widely. Her work can be found in prominent energy business journals as well as mainstream publications. She has been quoted by NPR, the Wall Street Journal and other notable media outlets.

“For an especially readable voice in the industry, the most consistent interpreter across these years has been the energy journalist Elisa Wood, whose Microgrid Knowledge (and conference) has aggregated more stories better than any other feed of its time,” wrote Malcolm McCullough, in the book, Downtime on the Microgrid, published by MIT Press in 2020.

Twitter: @ElisaWood

LinkedIn: Elisa Wood

Facebook: Microgrids