Penticton city hall considers $9M solar powered ‘microgrid’

Penticton city hall may set up its own mini power grid, and it can be turned on in case of emergency.

That’s according to a report to city council proposing $4.5 million be spent on the so-called electrical microgrid project, which includes solar power, industrial-sized battery storage and other power grid upgrades.

Penticton’s already-unique electrical system is powered by FortisBC, but the local utility is owned by the city.

The upgrades wouldn’t make Penticton entirely self-sufficient, but it could power critical locations in a major outage.

A battery system paired with solar panels would keep areas like city yards, an emergency operations centre, the hospital and fire halls powered if there’s an outage.

Otherwise, it will ease electrical demand during peak times, saving on electricity bills for local residents, according to the report.

It would save homeowners $11 per year in electricity bills and, for commercial properties, $55, according to the report.

On Sept. 1, city council will consider whether to put $4.5 million from reserves toward half of the cost of the project with the balance expected to come from government grants. The majority of the project would be paid off in up to 14 years.