Energy

Overview

Many CASA members are developing renewable energy projects to be part of the climate change solution. Efforts include expanding digester gas production by adding FOG or food waste to developing biosolids-to-energy facilities, installing solar panels and wind energy generation, and sequestering carbon and avoiding fossil fuel-based inorganic fertilizer through the land application of biosolids.

CASA meets frequently with key regulators and policy makers to support the wastewater communities solutions’ for renewable energy and climate change mitigation.

We work to influence California’s energy policies to maximize revenue opportunities and incentives for renewable energy generated by publicly owned treatment works. We work closely with the California Energy Commission, the Air Resources Board, and the California Public Utilities Commission and engaging in policy discussions on issues such as:

What types of projects should be eligible for grant funding?
How can renewable energy credits be generated and sold?
What are the appropriate prices for feed-in-tariffs – the rates for standard contracts given to third-party power generators for renewable energy sold to the grid?
How can the state make it easier for third-party generators to interconnect to the grid?

CASA collaborates with many organizations in advocating for distributed renewable generation in California.

Climate Change

Communities are experiencing increasingly intense and variable impacts of climate change. Not only must our society curb greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel use to mitigate climate change, but we must also adapt to rising sea/tide levels, increased frequency of extreme events (droughts, wildfires, storms, winds), interruptions to power and material deliveries, al of which threaten infrastructure and operations.

While members have been proactively working to assess their vulnerabilities to develop strategies to adapt to the changing climate and demands, communities are beginning to recognize the critical role wastewater treatment facilities (or resource recovery facilities) play in community resilience. Our members engage in recycling wastewater into potable water, as well as the recovery and beneficial use of renewable energy, biosolids, fuel, and other valuable resources, supporting a circular resources economy while minimizing community greenhouse gas emissions.