11.7.2019 Post by Ben Earl
As October fires raged throughout California, the mega-utility known as PG&E followed through on their threats of shutting off power to thousands of customers. Instantly, much of California became a virtual third-world environment.
Over the last century, California has been home to a large agricultural community, becoming the bread basket to the world. For our farmers, moving irrigation water upon demand is hyper-critical to the survival of their crops and their business. Because most water transfer is now done using electrical pumps, the risk of utility power shutdowns for extended periods of time is potentially fatal.
One of the leading farmers in Salinas just made it clear that he is no longer willing to leave his farm’s future to the uncertainty of these potential shutdowns.
Before shutdowns became the new normal, his farm had always dealt with unreliable spikes in grid power, resulting in burned-up motors and panels. These challenges were aggravating and costly, but not fatal.
As we recently walked through his crops, he pointed to a large field of leafy greens growing nearby. He commented that he must get water on those crops within the hour to keep them healthy. If not, he said the potential crop loss could easily exceed $1 million. This is the nightmare farmers are now facing if they stay totally dependent on the electric grid as their only source of power.
To solve this problem, Concept Clean Energy is packaging clean gas (propane or natural) generation with solar power to provide reliable, low cost, on-demand energy for standard 75HP to 250HP water pumping motors.
We understand what it takes to keep these pumps running and what power and water really mean to your operations.