12-17-10 BPU RPT 11 - Laserfiche WebLink

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�u RIVERSIDE PUBLIC UTILITIES Board Memorandum ptrg . � r rr '_ � r ! It5 BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES DATE: December 17, 2010 ITEM NO: 11 SUBJECT: CITY OF RIVERSIDE 1 COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE I RIVERSIDE COMMUNITY COLLEGE AQUATICS CENTER PHOTOVOLTAIC PROJECT ISSUE: That the Board of Public Utilities authorize specific rebates for a Photovoltaic shade structure at the Riverside Aquatics Center at Riverside Community College. RECOMMENDATION: That the Board of Public Utilities recommend that the City Council approve a 75% rebate of the cost of Photovoltaic (PV) panels to Riverside Community College (RCC), not to exceed $900,000. BACKGROUND: Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) is a strong supporter of local renewable energy projects through one of the highest solar rebate levels in the state, if not the nation. Especially important are projects that have high visibility on sites that support the overall goals of the community. Several existing locations that meet these goals are low-income housing projects, a senior center, community swimming pools and a Metrolink station. Projects of this nature benefit the community as a whole and provide highly visible demonstration projects seen by thousands of customers per year. A current opportunity for such a project exists at the Riverside Aquatics Center located on the RCC campus near downtown Riverside. The Aquatics Center is located at a lower elevation area of the southeastern corner of the campus and within view of the approximately 30,000 RCC students, faculty and visitors while they are at the RCC campus. The Riverside Aquatics Center is a jointly funded project by the RCC District, the RCC Foundation, the County of Riverside and the City of Riverside. The facility will operate through a Joint Use Agreement between RCC District and the City of Riverside. The facility will provide several pools that include an Olympic-sized competition pool and a separate training and competition area. Full diving facilities including boards and platforms at various levels are included. Locker rooms, restroom facilities, bleachers, and electronic score boards are also part of the project. The pools will provide venues for recreation, training, competition, warm-up and warm-down and will significantly enhance the regions ability to train the novice swimmer to world-class athletes. The current proposal is to construct a shade structure for spectators located over the bleachers on the southwestern side of the Aquatics Center. The orientation of the panels towards the sun would be ideal at this location. Not only is the PV structure highly visible to provide educational benefits of renewable energy, the structure is highly functional to shield spectators from hot summer sun or winter rain. RCC is exploring the size of the shade structure for the site. Staff is seeking Board authorization to commit up to a 75% rebate of cost for the panels, with a maximum rebate amount of $900,000. While the final structure is not anticipated to use the full level of funding;the maximum level of commitment to RCC is being requested. This allows staff to set aside the funding while RCC performs detailed engineering and analysis to determine the exact size of the structure and number of PV panels required.