New $88 Million Microgrid Project Aims to Power Hoopa, Karuk and Yurok Tribes

North Coast Journal

Ajoint effort between local tribes, Cal Poly Humboldt’s Schatz Energy Research Center, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and the Redwood Coast Energy Authority just received $88 million in Department of Energy funding to bring a solar microgrid system to Hoopa, Yurok and Karuk tribal members in an area more prone to electrical outages than almost anywhere else in the state.

The so-called Hoopa 1101, a 142-mile distribution circuit that connects the Hoopa Valley to upriver portion of the Yurok Reservation and goes farther upriver to the communities of Orleans and Somes Bar and portions of the Karuk Reservation, is one of the least reliable in the state. Peter Alstone, a Cal Poly Humboldt faculty scientist at the Schatz Energy Research Center who also teaches in the university’s School of Engineering, says the 2,200 or so electric customers on the circuit experience an average of more than 100 hours of power outage per year, “which is way off the charts,” noting the metric is usually measured in minutes per year.

The current situation also brings barriers and disincentives for households looking to reduce their carbon footprints or make efficiency upgrades, says RCEA Interim Executive Director Eileen Verbeck. After all, a family that can’t take for granted their lights will turn on when they flick the switch isn’t likely to hitch their transportation needs to an electric vehicle, or even swap their gas stove for a more carbon-friendly electric one.

Read more here: New $88 Million Microgrid Project Aims to Power Hoopa, Karuk and Yurok Tribes