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One of San Benito County’s most cutting-edge alternative energy projects, a 15,000-panel solar array in Aromas, is hidden away on a massive hill of mining waste called “overburden.” Along with the company’s first energy project, which is a mile and a half from Graniterock’s A.R. Wilson Quarry, is a smaller array near the quarry entrance. Solar power now accounts for over 65% of Graniterock’s energy needs at the site.
“An opportunity opened up to do a solar installation at the quarry,” said Graniterock President and CEO Peter Lemon, “we jumped on it. Because the sun shines every day and the best electron is the electron that you generate.”
According to Jon Erskine, Graniterock’s director of sustainability, the company began planning to supplement its operation with solar power in 2014, as the price of the systems started coming down and incentives were being offered.
Unexpected profit
Initially, Lemon said he was skeptical of using solar power because of the fog that regularly blanketed the site, wondering if it would affect the panels’ ability to produce electricity. After examining the math and the modeling, the company settled on a 3,000-panel array, which was completed in 2018.
“There was a ‘hold your breath moment’ when we flipped the switch,” Erskine said. “You wondered if this thing is going to work. But then you see the electrons flowing, and it’s pretty remarkable.”
The project cost around $2.5 million, and its 1 megawatt capacity was enough to take 15% of the mine’s energy use off the grid, precisely as planned. What was not expected was the system’s profitability.
“What didn’t hold was the actual cost of electricity,” Lemon said. “It was increasing way faster than what was predicted when we started the work. So the financial benefits were better not being tied to the grid.”
Assured by the success of this first installation, Erskine said it was logical to look for another place to put an array, and the corporate office in Watsonville, with its “big flat roof,” beckoned. He spearheaded the project, saying it was in part a symbolic gesture to the community and their employees that they believe in doing environmentally beneficial things.
“The whole idea,” Erskine said, “was to try and make the building net zero, so the amount of energy we use is equal to what we produce. We achieved about 90%, so we’re pretty darn close.”
The $1 million project involved more than just an array on the roof. Windows were upgraded to thermally insulated fixtures with filmed glass, the lighting was converted to LEDs, and centralized controls for heating, ventilation and air conditioning were added.
“All of these things were wasting energy,” Lemon said. “If you can control them to work together, you become more efficient overall. It’s kind of like creating a small ecosystem in the building.”
‘The right thing to do’
Graniterock’s third solar project was built on the success of the first two. It was sparked by a serendipitous joining of back-of-the-mind thinking within the company to extend the solar program and a chance suggestion from Political Action League member Seth Capron at the annual Aromas Day celebration.
“I walked by their table,” Lemon said, “and Seth asked, ‘Have you guys ever thought of solar at the quarry?’ We had land near it that was just sitting there, and it seemed like time to think about it a little bit more actionably, instead of theoretically.”
Erskine said that a combination of the state streamlining the permitting process, a 30% tax break and affordable interest rates made it much easier to consider building on the 20-acre overburden site. But going in front of the company’s board of directors to request funds for the project was another hold-your-breath moment.
“I had to say, ‘Hey, I’d like $15 million, please,’” Erskine said. “That’s a huge chunk of our cash flow, of course. The experience of our first one gave us confidence that this would work. But it was a big, big scary thing, no doubt about it.”
Erskine said that, while the project was similar to more basic home solar systems, it took several years to work through the finances and the complexities of its scale. There were constant consultations with PG&E as well.
“It’s a net-metered system,” he said. “During the day, we’re producing more energy than we consume. At night, we are drawing from the grid. All these things have to be in balance so PG&E knows that we’re not going to damage the grid.”
The COVID pandemic also created a delay. By March 2021, Erskine said that panels were being delivered while they were still figuring out how to get workers out to the project during lockdowns. But by December 2022, the system went online.
“Graniterock is about three things,” Lemon said at the ribbon-cutting. “Great projects, great products and great lives. Turning to solar to power our quarry operations represents all of those things and helps ensure Graniterock stays around for many years to come.”
Lemon told BenitoLink that looking at the investment in terms of a fast return is unrealistic and that none of the three projects are expected to be cash-positive until five to seven years after they’re completed.
“You have to have a long-term view,” he said. “Their benefit is regular and recurs over and over again, but it takes a while to turn that corner. The incentive is that it is the right thing to do, financially and for the environment.”
Sound practices
The question remains as to what happens to the site at the end of the effective life of the panels on the overburden, which is 25-35 years. Keith Severson, Graniterock’s director of marketing and community involvement, said two possibilities are being considered, pending reexamination of the state of solar energy as the panels age.
The first would be to continue with newer technology and update the site’s panels, which could potentially improve the site’s output and its useful life. The second would be to return the site to its natural state as prescribed by the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act.
“If they go away,” Severson said, “the bugs and bunnies will come back and repopulate this area. No matter what happens to Granite Rock, we will bring the land back to native California forever.”
Severson offered an adjoining 22-acre site as an example. The overburden has been covered with clean compost material to guarantee that no invasive plants are being brought into the site. Native California plants are then grown from seed, along with plantings of established plants such as oak trees and grasses.
“Our success rate for the oaks is almost 100%,” Severson said. “We have exceeded expectations to the point that we may have built a forest too dense for its own survival and might have to thin it out.”
Erskine said that Graniterock has consistently worked toward environmentally sound practices, such as using rail rather than trucks to transport products, using renewable diesel fuel in its trucks, recycling the water used in washing aggregates, and installing a battery storage system in its Redwood City office.
Increasing the amount of solar energy systems is also possible, depending on interest rates and government incentives, he said. Still, he is encouraged by the reliability, safety and positive economic return of the three finished projects.
“After that initial rush of ‘Oh my God, it really works,’ there came the feeling of ‘Wow, we made a difference.’ It was a great feeling of teamwork and making a legacy.”
BenitoLink thanks our underwriter, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), for helping to cover alternative and innovative energy stories around San Benito County. Pacific Gas and Electric Company, incorporated in California in 1905, is one of the largest utility companies in the United States. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.
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