December 9, 2024
Dimension Energy’s 44 MW community solar project in Inyokern, California, will generate $18 million in energy savings for residents and commercial subscribers. The project also represents the largest third-party community solar project in the United States.
A developer, owner and operator of community solar projects, Dimension Energy recently completed construction on the 130-acre project, which will serve a diverse group of residential and commercial customers in Southern California’s Edison service area. Beneficiaries include more than 2,000 households, supportive housing organization the Redwood Family Care Network, municipal facilities in the cities of Long Beach and Corona, and commercial buyers such as AT&T and Crown Castle.
As California continues to struggle to develop a scalable community solar program that can serve residents in an affordable and effective way, Dimension has secured a total of more than $100 million in project capital for the project. Partners are involved in the deal, which was completed at the end of 2023 Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank, National Bank of Canada, Comerica, and NT solar energy.
“Dimension has unparalleled insight into the community solar markets, allowing us to identify and seize opportunities that others don’t see,” said Sam Younes, co-founder and Chief Development Officer at Dimension Energy. “We turned a poorly functioning utility site into the nation’s largest community solar project, despite enormous policy hurdles in the state, by leveraging the niche Green Tariff Enhanced Community Renewables program. Apart from our Inyokern project, this program was essentially non-functional.”
As the largest non-utility U.S. community solar project, the Inyokern facility will provide enough renewable energy to serve the cities of Corona and Long Beach, while also enabling AT&T and Crown Castle to meet their renewable energy commitments. Dimension focuses on future community solar projects to replace polluting peaker power plants in historically impacted communities and provide additional support to community organizations such as the Redwood Family Care Network.
“We are grateful to our leading financial partners for their commitment to community solar and their confidence in our ability to execute this unprecedented project,” said Patrick Schaufelberger, senior VP of project finance at Dimension. “Inyokern is a unique project that required thoughtful acceptance, which our fantastic partners were able to deliver.”
Provider of acquisition, management, billing and support services PowerMarkt helped secure subscribers for the project.
“We are thrilled to have brought on board key partners like the City of Long Beach, the City of Corona and Redwood Family Care Network, ensuring the success of the project and maximizing its positive impact on communities throughout Southern California,” said Jason Kaplan, president of PowerMarket. “We look forward to building on our strong relationship with Dimension in the years ahead.”
Keywords: Community Solar Energy
