In one of Jesus’ parables (Matt 25:14-30), a master says to two of his servants who wisely invested his resources, “Well done, my good and faithful servants.”  To another servant who safeguarded rather than invested his master’s resources, the master said, “You wicked and lazy servant.”

Jesus’ parable teaches us that the resources we have ultimately belong to the Lord and are given to us temporarily to invest for the sake of the gospel.

It is this teaching of Jesus that compels us to invest in a solar shade structure at Christ Pacific.

We have obtained favorable Net Energy Metering rates from SCE and a design for a solar shade structure, which is projected to offset approximately $29,000 of power costs every year for the next 30++ years.

By producing solar power on our campus, we will significantly reduce our need for electricity from the grid.  This has several benefits.

• Cleaner and greener electricity.
• Reduced stress on the regional power grid.
• Insulation from electricity cost increases.
• $29,000/year benefit stream, creating more room in our budget to invest in ministry.
• A very good return on this capital investment.

Who’s leading the effort?

Dan Henrich and Shelley Keltner recently retired after selling their electrical design-build company, PDE Total Energy Solutions.  Dan founded PDE in 1990, and they spent the last 30 years designing, building and maintaining large scale, commercial/industrial critical power systems, including cutting edge solar and battery storage facilities.  Dan and Shelley bring to the table the very best solar expertise, extensive experience and a longstanding investment at Christ Pacific.

The installation will cost $311,040.

• $93,000 will be provided through a federal grant once the project is completed.
• $100,000 is being financed through LENDonate using a “crowd-funding” approach.  Learn how at LENDonate.com.
• $118,000 funds needed

How can you participate?

1. Donate to solar: The simplest way to help bring this project to fruition and for Christ Pacific to realize a $29,000 annual benefit stream is to donate to this project.

2. Lend to solar: Go to LENDonate.com and discover how you can become an accredited investor and loan money to this project at an interest rate of return of your choosing, up to a maximum of 7.5%.

We will install a small solar structure in the rear parking lot that will shade approximately twenty parking spaces.  This is similar to, but much smaller than, the solar shade structures you see at HB civic center or central library.

The solar panels atop this structure will harness power from the sun to provide electricity for our campus.  The net result is cleaner energy and an annual benefit stream of ~ $29,000.

Federal Grant.  With the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the federal government temporarily expanded the 30% clean energy tax credits to allow tax-exempt entities to directly access those credits.  When the project is completed, the federal government will reimburse us $93,000.

SCE NEM 2.0.  The power utilities recently changed their solar Net Energy Metering (NEM) program, and now under this new NEM 3.0 program they pay dramatically lower rates for electricity produced by solar. This makes solar installation under the new program economically unfeasible.

We knew this change was coming, so we applied for and were approved for solar under SCE’s NEM 2.0 program.  Our application was approved provided we are operational by April 2026.

If we do not build under this conditional SCE NEM 2.0 application, then building a solar project is no longer economically advantageous to us.  Time is of the essence.

• Dec 2021 – Began seeking solar proposals from contractors
• Aug 2022 – Inflation Reduction Act signed
• Apr 2023 – Selected contractor
• Apr 2023 – SCE NEM 2.0 Application submitted
• Feb 2024 – SCE NEM 2.0 Application approved
• Aug 2024 – Session approved project
• Jan 2025 – Begin construction (~6 mos)
• Summer 2025 – Commissioning of panels
• Apr 2026 – Deadline for solar field commissioning