BART commits to a future powered by wind and solar power – BART took bold action today to improve the climate footprint of the Bay Area’s transportation sector. Following BART’s adoption of an aggressive and industry-leading Wholesale Electricity Portfolio Policy in April 2017, the BART Board of Directors today approved two 20-year renewable energy power purchase agreements.
“These agreements will ensure the District gets a majority of its electricity supply from clean, renewable, and competitively-priced sources through at least 2040,” said BART Board President Rebecca Saltzman. “Wind and solar energy will take center stage in BART’s long-term electricity supply.” One of the agreements calls for NextEra Energy Resources to build a new 61.7 MW (megawatt) wind energy project and the other calls for Recurrent Energy to build a new 45 MW solar energy project. Both projects will be located in Kern County and are expected to be online by January 1, 2021.
BART currently gets 4% of its electricity supply from renewable sources, but that will increase dramatically with these two new agreements. Renewable energy will account for about 90% of the District’s electricity portfolio starting in 2021, when the two new renewable projects begin delivery under the agreements. As BART’s energy needs increase, the new renewable energy agreements will provide about 75% of BART’s electricity needs beginning in 2025 and for the remainder of the 20-year terms.