Description

In September 2002, California State Senate Bill 1038 was passed allowing the City of Davis to purchase power generated from the photovoltaics at the Photovoltaics for Utility Scale Applications (PVUSA) site in Davis. The energy generated at the site will not only be used by the city, but will be treated as a credit toward Davis’s PG&E bill for city-owned and operated facilities. Under the legislation, no energy produced at the site will be sold; instead, the city of Davis will use 100 percent of the power. As of 2003 there were approximately 800 kW of PV on the site with plans to increase the amount of PV over time. PVUSA was built by PG&E in the late 80s and has been used for a variety of research and testing over the years under a variety of owners. The City of Davis currently owns the facility, but leases it to others to operate.