Silicon Valley Power (SVP) is a
not-for-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
municipal
electric utility
An electric utility is a company in the electric power industry (often a public utility) that engages in electricity generation and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. The electrical utility industry is a major pr ...
owned and operated by the City of
Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...
, USA. SVP provides electricity service to approximately 55,116 residential and business customers, including large corporations such as
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
,
Applied Materials
Applied Materials, Inc. is an American corporation that supplies equipment, services and software for the manufacture of semiconductor (integrated circuit) chips for electronics, flat panel displays for computers, smartphones, televisions, and s ...
,
Owens Corning
Owens Corning is an American company that develops and produces insulation, roofing, and fiberglass composites and related materials and products. It is the world's largest manufacturer of fiberglass composites. It was formed in 1935 as a partn ...
and
NVIDIA
Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...
. SVP also owns and maintains a
dark fiber network named SVP Fiber Enterprise.
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History
The City of Santa Clara electric department was founded in 1896 when it installed 46 streetlights powered by a direct current generator. From January 1904 to 1965, the electric department began purchasing energy for resale to Santa Clara’s customers from the United Gas and Electric Company of San Jose, which later became part of
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 milli ...
(PG&E).
PG&E supplied Santa Clara’s electric needs until 1965, when the electric department began to purchase its power from the
Central Valley Project
The Central Valley Project (CVP) is a federal power and water management project in the U.S. state of California under the supervision of the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). It was devised in 1933 in order to provide irrigation and m ...
(CVP) supervised by the
United States Bureau of Reclamation
The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...
. In 1968, Santa Clara became a founding member of the
Northern California Power Agency The Northern California Power Agency, located in Roseville, California, is a joint powers agency formed in 1968 to provide its members with electrical energy purchasing, aggregation, scheduling and management. (NCPA) in order to work with other municipal electric utilities to jointly develop cost-effective energy sources.
In 1980, the Santa Clara electric department became an energy producing utility for the first time since 1903 when it launched its own 6-
megawatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units, International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), ...
(MW)
cogeneration
Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time.
Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elect ...
project, the first of three natural gas-fueled electricity generation plants in the City of Santa Clara. In 1983, Santa Clara and its NCPA partners became the first cities in the U.S. to invest in and operate a publicly owned geothermal plant, the 110 MW NCPA Geothermal Project, one of 22 geothermal power plants at
The Geysers
The Geysers is the world's largest geothermal field, containing a complex of 18 geothermal power plants, drawing steam from more than 350 wells, located in the Mayacamas Mountains approximately north of San Francisco, California.
Geysers produce ...
,
[“California and Western Electricity Supply Outlook Report, Appendices A-E” California Energy Commission (2005), p B-23](_blank)
/ref> with Santa Clara having a 55% ownership interest.
In 1998, the Santa Clara electric department was renamed Silicon Valley Power (SVP). Subsequent efforts to expand and diversify its electricity supply led to construction of the Donald Von Raesfeld combined cycle natural gas plant (2005), various partnerships in wind and hydroelectric generation sources, and 25 percent ownership of the Lodi Energy Center combined cycle natural gas plant (2012).
In 2007, SVP launched Santa Clara Green Power to provide residents and businesses the option to use only renewable energy. SVP continually pursues affordable renewable power options as the city general plan states an objective to be sustainable. On average, in 2012 over 38 percent of the electricity distributed by SVP was from green resources, and the City’s utility is nationally recognized for its reliable power, low rates, and customer satisfaction.
In addition, the City owns an extensive dark fiber optic network to serve business customers. The SVP Fiber Enterprise is a department of SVP.
SVP introduced two new services in 2013. Santa Clara was the first city in the U.S. to provide free citywide outdoor Wi-Fi access via an AMI wireless system branded as SVP MeterConnect®, and SVP helped fund electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at the Central Park Library and the Santa Clara Convention Center. SVP’s complete AMI project is being rolled out in the 2015-2016 time frame.
Power Portfolio
In 2017 the SVP power mix consisted of 38% from eligible renewable resources as defined by the California Energy Commission, 34% large hydroelectric, 16% natural gas, 9% coal, and 3% from unspecified sources. Total kilowatt-hour (kWh) retail sales in 2018 were 3,566,293,836 kWh.
Facilities and Generation Sources
Generating facilities owned by the City of Santa Clara and located in the city provided 32.5% of the electricity consumed in Santa Clara. Natural gas-fueled facilities are the Donald Von Raesfeld natural gas power plant (147.8 MW), Gianera Generating Station (49.5 MW) and Cogeneration Plant #1 (7 MW). In addition, power is also generated by the Jenny Strand Solar Research and Development Park (100 kW), the Tasman Parking Structure Solar PV (400 kW) and by the capture and burning of methane gas from a closed City of Santa Clara landfill (750 kW).
SVP also owns a 230-kilovolt (kV) transmission line that brings electricity into the city from non-local sources.
Generating sources owned by SVP and located outside the city include the Stony Creek Hydroelectric System and Grizzly Hydroelectric Project.
Joint Power Agencies (JPA) of which SVP is a member include the NCPA (hydroelectric, natural gas, geothermal projects) and M-S-R (coal and wind). SVP also contracts to receive electricity through power purchase agreements with such entities as Iberdrola and Seawest LLC (wind); Western Area Power Association, Tri-Dam Project, Friant Power Authority (hydroelectric); Recurrent Energy (solar); and G2 Energy and Ameresco (landfill gas
Landfill gas is a mix of different gases created by the action of microorganisms within a landfill as they decompose organic waste, including for example, food waste and paper waste. Landfill gas is approximately forty to sixty percent methane, ...
).
SVP receives generation produced outside Santa Clara via transmission facilities owned and operated by PG&E under the direction of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). SVP also participates in the Transmission Agency of Northern California (TANC) which is interconnected to PG&E’s transmission facilities.
Regulatory Agencies
SVP must adhere to the laws and regulations of the U.S. and the State of California and is involved, in various ways, with multiple entities, including: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC); North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC); California Energy Commission (CEC); CAISO; California Division of Occupational Safety and health (Cal/OSHA); Bay Area Air Quality Management District; California Department of Toxic Substances Control; California Department of Transportation; and the California Air Resources Board.
Governance and Key Executives
The City of Santa Clara City Council"Council Members" City of Santa Clara
/ref> has governing authority over SVP via the city manager and the Director of Electric Utility, who reports to the city manager.
References
{{Electric Utilities in CA
Non-profit organizations based in California
Energy companies of the United States
1896 establishments in California