December 16, 2020—The Kerrville Public Utility Board (KPUB) co-hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, December 16, to celebrate its newest solar project coming online with project stakeholders, community leaders and local media attending virtually.
The Long Draw Solar Project is a solar farm located in the West Texas Region of Borden County, housing over 800,000 solar panels across approximately 2,000 acres. ENGIE, one of the largest electric utilities in the world, is the developer of the project, and this marks their largest solar project to date in North America.
Our contract at Long Draw is the result of a joint purchasing effort led by New Braunfels Utilities and joined by Denton Municipal Electric, Garland Power & Light and KPUB. Together we are purchasing a total of 225 megawatts (MW) of solar power through four separate power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Engie. Under the PPAs, which have terms of 15 years, New Braunfels has contracted to purchase 100 MW of solar capacity, Denton 75 MW, Garland 25 MW and Kerrville 25 MW.
“KPUB is excited to add this renewable project into our diversified power supply portfolio,” said KPUB General Manager & CEO, Mike Wittler. “This supports our competitive rate strategy and mission to provide reliable service to our customers at the lowest responsible price.”
Renewable projects that KPUB has coming in, such as Long Draw, are among the lowest cost of energy sources in the utility’s current energy portfolio—meaning that KPUB’s customers will continue to have stable, competitive rates for years to come. The 25 MW of solar that KPUB has purchased through the Long Draw Project will power approximately 6,250 homes with clean, zero-carbon energy.
“KPUB has a nationally recognized reputation for providing exceptional electric reliability to its customers, and we’re delighted to help them enhance that ability and provide such a smart energy choice with our Long Draw solar project,” said Laura Beane, Chief Renewables Officer for ENGIE North America. “There’s no question that grid-scale solar plays a vital role in providing affordable and reliable, clean power to Texas energy customers, and we look forward to a long relationship with KPUB and sharing the values of exceptional customer service.”
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About KPUB
The Kerrville Public Utility Board (KPUB) was acquired by the City of Kerrville in 1987. KPUB serves approximately 22,750 customers throughout 146 square mile service area, including Kerrville, Center Point, Ingram, Hunt, and surrounding areas in Kerr County.
KPUB is overseen by a five-member board of trustees who serve without compensation and who are responsible to the City of Kerrville for the management and control of the system. KPUB is a responsive and efficient locally-owned provider of reliable, high-quality utility service at the lowest responsible price.
About ENGIE North America, Inc.
ENGIE North America Inc. offers a range of capabilities in the United States and Canada to help customers decarbonize, decentralize, and digitalize their operations. These include comprehensive services to help customers run their facilities more efficiently and optimize energy and other resource use and expense; clean power generation; energy storage; and retail energy supply that includes renewable, demand response, and on-bill financing options.
Nearly 100% of the company’s power generation portfolio is low carbon or renewable. Globally, ENGIE is the largest independent power producer and a leading energy efficiency services provider in the world, employing 160,000 people. For more information on ENGIE North America, please visit their website at www.engie-na.com.