{"id":15222,"date":"2012-12-19T09:41:27","date_gmt":"2012-12-19T15:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=15222"},"modified":"2012-12-19T09:41:27","modified_gmt":"2012-12-19T15:41:27","slug":"solar-powered-prisons-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Powered Prisons in California Represent Big Savings for Taxpayers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/solar-panels-at-Ironwood-Prison.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15223\" title=\"solar panels at Ironwood Prison\" src=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/solar-panels-at-Ironwood-Prison.jpg\" alt=\"array of solar panels at Ironwood Prison\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/solar-panels-at-Ironwood-Prison.jpg 500w, https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/solar-panels-at-Ironwood-Prison-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Prisons are a necessary component of modern society, but even the most die-hard &#8220;get tough on crime&#8221; proponent doesn&#8217;t want to spend a ton of money on them. \u00a0So, where do you keep costs down? Guards? Buildings? Cutting most categories of spending probably also means cutting security at some level; <a href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/2012\/12\/home-energy-use-waste-infographic\/\">energy<\/a>, however, represents a significant source of savings without undermining a prison&#8217;s purpose. California&#8217;s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation may have implemented a model for the rest of the country: a multi-institution <a href=\"http:\/\/greenbuildingelements.com\/2010\/07\/13\/energy-efficiency-on-a-budget-lease-your-solar-power\/\">solar power purchase agreement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Created in partnership with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sunedison.com\">SunEdison<\/a>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cdcr.ca.gov\/CDCR_Going_Green\/Solar_Power.html\">solar energy component<\/a> of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cdcr.ca.gov\/cdcr_going_green\/index.html\">&#8220;CDCR Goes Green&#8221; program<\/a> not only creates environmental benefits, but also cost savings for a state that&#8217;s been hit hard by the economic downturn. Since 2006, the program has installed solar systems at five state prisons:\u00a0California Correctional Institution, Chuckawalla Valley State Prison, Ironwood State Prison (pictured above), North Kern State Prison,\u00a0and Los Angeles County. Expected savings vary by source, but they&#8217;re substantial in any case: $45-57 million over the 20 year contracts.<\/p>\n<p>The beauty of this\u00a0arrangement\u00a0is that the state didn&#8217;t have to pony up a large initial investment: SunEdison installed the panels on marginal lands near the prisons, owns them, and maintains them. The CDCR simply agrees to buy power at a set rate for the term of the contract. For details on the cost savings and environmental benefits created by each installation, take a look at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cdcr.ca.gov\/CDCR_Going_Green\/docs\/Solar_docs\/Solar-Projects-Data.pdf\">the CDCR&#8217;s data set on the solar program<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hard to see this as anything other than a &#8220;win-win&#8221;; I&#8217;m sure we&#8217;ll continue to see these kinds of energy contracts put in place by large institutions. Know of another one that&#8217;s working well? Let us know about it.<\/p>\n<p>via <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sunedison.com\/wps\/portal\/memc\/aboutus\/newsroom\/pressreleases\/!ut\/p\/b1\/hZLJbqNQFES_JR-AeI_BwJJ5MGDAzBuEDWYyZjIY-Pp2Wtm0oqTv7kqnalFVaIyGaPxIl6pIn1X3SO-ff3xIcCgCDCegItM-ACqjuMCTeIBR4A1E_wBH-hMQPChrJi7j2P_0ARq6EcFcJuMlqMHSNUGtXnyMeIyTEav3jm8Gv5Wcoqnqwwmrew4cbnNSJpdqnDdthFeYjQbigYArtSy-TSUVXOf6KZ7meBkCvxmwpfbslLIdHk4LJ2mqZ1ZJlnCPDWfu3YipNlM6OvGyW08N2tlGYnF5tilxTvlu4oQRVsUePs-53Gf2S2nmlhl4WIIeyUUuDHGYE97GaRlOOP3MziJJrkVeKZm9u4YBgNBNiU6bvSC4pz4pchxLQ4siEAVZhc4wPr7yAz8cC_6Xn4bGxb27vKvy3eiw1oW6CqKTaI7Tn4MBKfVJzh1LCJqx2qx4wC6JskLFzoNLY5Kn-RBcYUvmUcRQeOKturXeZsNlKHkdd-lIrP7OvyJMN8roVk6WS1n9IRhrCad4ny4etG9sG40FcH9NXFbeENuDnD_xctfg9iUQ72SpX29WJyHaNmNDKrHdvugqW_gaUUL91dMMIBxdjGjT4Lv6XpadFyGwxsLsPEUP6WkMGpslg9wOLjz1a6ZLTy54byb-NRYdfAGEfcSUT-BkOCJQLZL0NQG8Z0l-c_i-27_AL8VEb4D6yeF0xFEXDQGRnOutV_dmd-rd0cxmxlzxtQMRbG6tOKYrWWaWQlPgd_iWuk0DzTozDdDtpnmzMt_xOJY9RA8xQE2la3O0b71FJ5ezWpMjwX58_AEqRm1u\/dl4\/d5\/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh\/\">SunEdison<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.correctionalnews.com\/articles\/2012\/12\/18\/california-prisons-go-solar-part-green-initiative\">Correctional News<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Image<\/strong> courtesy of SunEdison<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation figured out how to save big on their utility bills: a solar power purchase agreement with SunEdison.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":15223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[370,91,6247,6248,6,6208],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Solar Powered Prisons Save Taxpayers Money<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How do you cut the costs of prisons without compromising safety? In California, the state has implemented solar power purchase arrangements to save money.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Solar Powered Prisons Save Taxpayers Money\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How do you cut the costs of prisons without compromising safety? In California, the state has implemented solar power purchase arrangements to save money.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sustainablog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-12-19T15:41:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/solar-panels-at-Ironwood-Prison.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeff McIntire-Strasburg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeff McIntire-Strasburg\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeff McIntire-Strasburg\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9b578e764fdaeb0c31f2d565d3f02b30\"},\"headline\":\"Solar Powered Prisons in California Represent Big Savings for Taxpayers\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-12-19T15:41:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-12-19T15:41:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/\"},\"wordCount\":302,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"California\",\"energy\",\"power purchase agreement\",\"prisons\",\"solar\",\"sunedison\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/\",\"name\":\"Solar Powered Prisons Save Taxpayers Money\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-12-19T15:41:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-12-19T15:41:27+00:00\",\"description\":\"How do you cut the costs of prisons without compromising safety? In California, the state has implemented solar power purchase arrangements to save money.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Solar Powered Prisons in California Represent Big Savings for Taxpayers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/\",\"name\":\"Sustainablog\",\"description\":\"Since 2003, Sustainablog has been one of the pioneers of sustainability news online.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sustainablog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cropped-sblog-logo_3b.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cropped-sblog-logo_3b.jpg\",\"width\":200,\"height\":142,\"caption\":\"Sustainablog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9b578e764fdaeb0c31f2d565d3f02b30\",\"name\":\"Jeff McIntire-Strasburg\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/36b723ef9244464afe2e59d68b238a07?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/36b723ef9244464afe2e59d68b238a07?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeff McIntire-Strasburg\"},\"description\":\"Jeff McIntire-Strasburg is the founder and editor of sustainablog. You can keep up with all of his writing at Facebook, and at Google+\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/author\/jeffmcintirestrasburg\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Solar Powered Prisons Save Taxpayers Money","description":"How do you cut the costs of prisons without compromising safety? In California, the state has implemented solar power purchase arrangements to save money.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Solar Powered Prisons Save Taxpayers Money","og_description":"How do you cut the costs of prisons without compromising safety? In California, the state has implemented solar power purchase arrangements to save money.","og_url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/","og_site_name":"Sustainablog","article_published_time":"2012-12-19T15:41:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":333,"url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/solar-panels-at-Ironwood-Prison.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeff McIntire-Strasburg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeff McIntire-Strasburg","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/"},"author":{"name":"Jeff McIntire-Strasburg","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9b578e764fdaeb0c31f2d565d3f02b30"},"headline":"Solar Powered Prisons in California Represent Big Savings for Taxpayers","datePublished":"2012-12-19T15:41:27+00:00","dateModified":"2012-12-19T15:41:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/"},"wordCount":302,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization"},"keywords":["California","energy","power purchase agreement","prisons","solar","sunedison"],"articleSection":["Technology"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/","url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/","name":"Solar Powered Prisons Save Taxpayers Money","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-12-19T15:41:27+00:00","dateModified":"2012-12-19T15:41:27+00:00","description":"How do you cut the costs of prisons without compromising safety? In California, the state has implemented solar power purchase arrangements to save money.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/solar-powered-prisons-california\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Solar Powered Prisons in California Represent Big Savings for Taxpayers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/","name":"Sustainablog","description":"Since 2003, Sustainablog has been one of the pioneers of sustainability news online.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#organization","name":"Sustainablog","url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cropped-sblog-logo_3b.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/cropped-sblog-logo_3b.jpg","width":200,"height":142,"caption":"Sustainablog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9b578e764fdaeb0c31f2d565d3f02b30","name":"Jeff McIntire-Strasburg","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/36b723ef9244464afe2e59d68b238a07?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/36b723ef9244464afe2e59d68b238a07?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeff McIntire-Strasburg"},"description":"Jeff McIntire-Strasburg is the founder and editor of sustainablog. You can keep up with all of his writing at Facebook, and at Google+","sameAs":["https:\/\/sustainablog.org"],"url":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/author\/jeffmcintirestrasburg\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15222"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}