Item 26 - Grant Application for Solar Power Project

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i Generation of Solar Power at Garthe and West Pump Station Facilities Project Bureau of Reclamation Water Energy and Efficiency Grant FY2022 peak demand hours in the coming weeks". Nichola Groom, Reuters, August 11, 2021. According to a recent article from Bloomberg Energy, these supply shortages are on the rise in California. There were 25,281 blackout events in 2019, a 23% increase from 20,598 in 2018. The number of utility customers affected jumped to 28.4 million in 2019, up 50% from 19 million in 2018. This year in California, extreme drought has slashed 1,000 MW of hydroelectric power capacity; wildfires threaten transmission lines that bring in power from other states; and a fire at a San Francisco -area gas plant knocked out 300 MW of supply, state agencies said. Energy supply shortfalls throughout the state, including in the Project area, have been increasing in recent years, even worse than anticipated. The proposed Project will help to alleviate these shortfalls and mitigate the resulting detrimental effects. • Explain and provide detail of the specific issue(s) in the area that is impacting energy sustainability, such as reliance on fossil fuels, pollution, or interruptions in service. Please describe how the project will directly address the concerns) stated above. For example, if experiencing shortages due to drought or climate change, how will the project directly address and confront the shortages? Energy sustainability worldwide, and in the Project area in particular, is becoming more difficult due to society's reliance on fossil fuels. The result of this reliance is decreasing supplies and increasing energy shortages, which result in interruptions in service, as well as increased air pollution and other negative environmental impacts. Climate change has increased our reliance on these fossil fuels for uses in all areas of our society, including the production of water for firefighting and public use, as well as increased creature comforts such as air conditioning increases due to the rising temperatures associated with climate change. In recent years, this reliance has been increasing as demand increases. According to a July 2014 publication from U.S. Department of Energy, titled, "Water Energy Nexus Executive Summary," present day water and energy systems are interdependent. Water is used in all phases of energy production and electricity generation. Recent developments have focused national attention on the connections between water and energy infrastructure. When severe drought affected more than a third of the United States in 2012, limited water availability constrained the operation of some power plants and other energy production activities. Several current trends are further increasing the urgency to address the water -energy nexus in an integrated and proactive way. According to researchers at the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, in Blacksburg, Virginia; fossil -fuel -fired thermoelectric power plants consume more than 132 billion gallons of fresh water per day (2008) in the United States alone, which 14 PREVIEW Date: Nov 03, 2021 Workspace ID: WS00800354 Funding Opportunity Number: R22AS00023