Guest writer Phil Pitchford, CQ Media Group, LLC

Riverside, California is planning to convert a former landfill into a photovoltaic (PV) farm that produces solar energy. But city officials were concerned that some residents might oppose the project, so they held a community meeting and erected E-Z Up tents so residents could see just where the solar panels would be.

The plan to engage the community worked so well that nearly all concerns about the project had melted away by the time the meeting ended. The idea – giving residents something visual – can be replicated in other city projects and probably will be, city officials said.

“People like to be shown. They tend to be visual on utility projects,” Riverside City Councilman Mike Gardner said. “We are used to seeing a power plant or a transmission tower. It just doesn’t intuitively fit that, ‘Well, I just won’t see it (the PV farm).’”

Riverside Public Utilities initially is proposing to generate 1 MW of power on a 10-acre patch of the capped, 200-acre landfill using largely existing power lines. One megawatt would provide enough power for about 750 homes. The initial phase of the project would cost between $8 million and $10 million.

The utility’s long-range plan is to produce 10MW of solar power on 100 acres of former landfill, enough power for 7,500 homes. That larger project, which would include planting groundcover in the area to further reduce the visual impacts, would cost $80 million to $100 million.

The project is part of an ongoing effort in Riverside to develop solar energy resources and to maintain “clean and green” practices. The city has adopted the Green Riverside Action Plan, with 38 goals that outline ways residents and city officials can collaborate to improve air quality, reduce traffic congestion and otherwise preserve the environment. The plan highlights seven vital areas: energy, greenhouse gas emissions, waste, urban design, urban nature, transportation, and water. Of the goals, 34 have already been reached or are on target.

For example, earlier this year, just eight years after its first solar energy project came online, Riverside surpassed the milestone of producing more than 1 megawatt (MW) of local solar energy, enough energy to power 750 homes in Southern California. The City also has implemented rebate programs for residential and commercial customers that will increase solar generation in the City to 3MW by 2020. The farm would help the city reach those goals and help reduce greenhouse gases emissions.

The community meeting hammered home the point that the former landfill is pitched, like the roof of a house, and therefore will prevent residents from seeing the photovoltaic panels. The panels will be tucked into the side of the landfill that is opposite from the side that faces the only houses in the area. Only someone standing directly on the landfill – which is not allowed – will be able to see the panels below.

The effort appears to have worked. So far, no one has expressed opposition to the idea to take a vacant piece of land and use it as a source of clean energy. The city is moving forward with the plan after receiving conceptual approval from the Riverside City Council. That allowed the utility to proceed with preliminary engineering.

“It’s important that the residents feel that the city and the city utility care about what they think rather than just doing what is expedient for the city and utility,” Gardner said.

The PV farm effort is being led by Riverside Public Utilities, a consumer-owned water and electric utility governed by a board of nine community volunteers. The utility, which is committed to increased use of renewable energy resources and sustainable living practices, provides high-quality, reliable services to more than 106,000 metered electric customers and 63,400 metered water customers throughout Riverside.

The landfill property has been owned by Riverside for nearly a century and operated as a landfill until 1985. The city’s Public Works department considered putting the land to recreational use, but the site’s location makes that difficult. The land cannot be irrigated because of potential damage to the cap on the landfill; water would eventually percolate into the refuse.

Riverside Public Utilities, however, sees great potential in the landfill. The utility has proposed building a small project initially, then possibly expanding it to include more solar panels, and more clean and green electricity, in the future.

Utility officials were confident that the plan would be well-received if they could get enough information into the hands of nearby residents. Conversely, they were concerned that, without the public information effort, the project would hit a roadblock before it even got off the ground.

Utility staff members hand-delivered dozens of letters that outlined the merits of the project and invited the public to a meeting. They explained that the proposed Tequesquite Solar Farm would be on the portion of the 200-acre site that slopes towards the Santa Ana River, not toward homes. They also encouraged residents to view the project site from their backyards on the day of the public meeting and assured them that if they could not see the E-Z Up tents that day, they would not see the solar panels once they are installed.

Gardner, who lives nearby, said the landfill was there when he moved in 35 years ago. He said it was noisy and that neighbors could hear the equipment, especially at the end of the day when that day’s trash was covered.

“The bulldozer ran all day,” Gardner said. “Clearly you could hear it. It was convenient to have it there, but overall, I am glad it is gone.”

Gardner said only one or two people have asked him about the photovoltaic farm project and, so far, nobody has been against it. And, he said, they likely will end up actually liking the aesthetics.

“Right now, the top of the landfill is bare dirt, so if we can put some panels out there with a bluish or greenish tint, people might actually prefer that,” Gardner said.