USG Corporation (NYS: USG) , a leading building products company, has entered into a Solar Energy Power Purchase and Sale Agreement (PPA) with Green Light Plaster City Solar 1 LLC (GLPCS1), a wholly owned subsidiary of Green Light Energy Corp. (“GLEC”), to install a solar facility at its Plaster City, Calif. manufacturing plant. The one megawatt photovoltaic (PV) system will provide USG with predictable cost for the portion of electricity supplied by the PV system for the next 20 years.
Through the PPA, GLPCS1 along with local engineering firm, ZGlobal, Inc. (“ZGlobal”), will install solar cells on eight acres of USG’s Plaster City’s site. Installation began in September and should be completed by December.
“We are always looking for opportunities for our plants to use solar energy, and it made a lot of sense to move forward with this renewable energy investment at our manufacturing plant in Plaster City,” said Al Zucco, senior director, Energy and Sustainability, USG. “This is an exciting project that demonstrates USG’s environmental stewardship and commitment to maintain environmentally-friendly operations.”
The GLPCS1 and ZGlobal solar project in Plaster City is part of an effort that the two companies are working on to provide renewable energy solutions throughout California and specifically the Imperial Valley. Currently the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) supports and provides all of the USG plant’s energy. IID rates are expected to increase, at an unknown rate, but with the PPA, USG will have predictable pricing for energy produced by the solar PV system.
“GLPCS1 is a firm believer in utilizing renewable energy resources and is proud to support USG in its effort towards building a sustainable renewable energy source for its Plaster City plant,” said Jeremy Vaa, President and CEO, GLEC.
“We at ZGlobal are delighted to be working with GLPCS1 and USG to bring this distributed generation solar project online,” said Ziad Alaywan, President, ZGlobal, Inc. “This project is an example of how well environmental sustainability balances with opportunities to reduce rising energy costs.”
In addition to improving the environmental profile of USG’s Plaster City plant, the project is expected to save the company more than $1MM over the 20-year life of the project through lowered electricity costs.
