Three prominent Cupertino government buildings are set to switch to green energy as the city warms up to the idea of solar power.
The Cupertino City Council voted 3-2 Feb. 4 to install solar panels at the Quinlan Community Center, Cupertino Sports Center and Community Hall. Mayor Liang Chao and Councilmember R “Ray” Wang voted no, citing funding concerns. Fremont-based Syserco Energy Solutions and Pleasanton-based 4LEAF, Inc. are the contractors for the roughly $4.4 million project.
Cupertino is expected to pay about $2.5 million of that total thanks to a 30% tax credit from the Inflation Reduction Act, a 2022 federal law partially aimed at incentivizing clean energy. The project is estimated to save the city nearly $291,000 in energy costs per year and roughly $13.4 million over the panels’ 30-year lifespans. The panels must be installed and operational by 2026 to meet the PG&E deadline for reduced rates.
Councilmember Sheila Mohan said she supports the project because solar energy is the future. She has solar panels on her home.
“We’re all trying to get away from fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions, and this is the first step,” Mohan told San José Spotlight.
The plan aligns with Cupertino’s energy goals in its 2022 Climate Action Plan.
Wang said as someone with solar panels and batteries at his home, he would support the project if it wasn’t reliant on Inflation Reduction Act funds. President Donald Trump froze the majority of the law’s money funding clean energy last month in an attempt to stop Green New Deal efforts. The effects the freeze could have on local energy efforts are uncertain.
Without the funding, Cupertino would have to foot the whole $4.4 million. Wang doesn’t want that to happen, especially with the city predicting budget deficits for the coming years.
“We went ahead with this because we’re worried about losing funding, but we’re going to end up paying more,” he told San José Spotlight. “I just think this is the wrong contract.”
The project first came to councilmembers last year as one of the city’s fiscal year 2024-25 improvement projects. It was initially expected to cost about $6.3 million, but was reduced after the city removed Blackberry Farm Golf Course, Cupertino Civic Center and the city’s library from the plan.
The solar panels aren’t Cupertino’s first climate-friendly effort. The city uses Silicon Valley Hopper, an affordable ride-share service fully powered by electric cars. Last month, Cupertino launched two portable, solar-powered electric car charging stations using grant funding from nonprofit Silicon Valley Clean Energy.
Zoe Elizabeth, deputy director of decarbonization programs and policy at Silicon Valley Clean Energy, said localized efforts are critical — especially while federal policy is uncertain.
“We feel the impacts of climate change at a local level and so this is why we see cities stepping up and taking this kind of action,” she told San José Spotlight. “Their commitment to continuing that progress is only more important (given a shift in federal policy).”
Cupertino resident Jean Bedord, who’s lived in the city for about 30 years, supports the solar panels not just for their green energy but for their unintended benefits. Some of the solar panels at Quinlan Community Center are slated for the Memorial Park picnic area, where there is no shade. The overhang supporting the solar panels will provide that.
“Solar panels are never going to completely replace certain forms of energy, but to the extent that we can utilize our wonderful sunshine, I’m all for it,” she told San José Spotlight.
Contact Annalise Freimarck at annalise@sanjosespotlight.com or follow @annalise_ellen on X.
This story originally appeared in San José Spotlight.
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