Riverside Community College District Solar Project

In December, the Riverside Community College District Board of Trustees approved a $37.5 million District-wide Solar Project. The project will include the installation of a 7 megawatt Solar Photovoltaic System, an approximately 6,000 kWh Battery Energy Storage System, and 86 new EV Charging Stations across Moreno Valley College, Norco College, Riverside City College, the district office in downtown Riverside, and the Ben Clark Training Center. 

Solar power, a renewable energy source, plays an important role in our state’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change. The District-wide Solar Project is part of Riverside Community College District’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan that aligns with the California Community Colleges’ sustainability framework. It will provide anticipated energy cost savings of $7.5 million over 25 years with approximately 60% energy offset of the entire district’s energy consumption. The project also supports the district’s decarbonization goal, climate justice, and educational mission for the college’s sustainability academic curriculum.

Contracts for the Districtwide Solar Project have been negotiated under the Design-Build Energy Services Agreement with TotalEnergies. The Riverside Community College District engaged in six months of continuous negotiations with TotalEnergies consisting of due diligence activities, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) approval, and identifying the project’s risks and developing mitigation measures. 

We are proud of the Riverside Community College District’s great strides toward a more environmentally sustainable future. We look forward to working with Riverside and all other districts across the system to realize cost savings and support their climate goals through the use of existing and future CollegeBuys agreements.