The Sacramento Municipal Utility District proposes to build a 344-megawatt solar array with battery storage in southwestern Placer County.
The Sacramento utility has given notice that it's seeking an environmental review to construct and operate the 344-megawatt solar plant on about 1,300 acres in Placer County on Baseline Road, a few miles west of the Roseville city limit.
The array would be built on land that is currently used for agricultural production, and it includes some protected wetlands.
Generally, 1 megawatt is enough electricity to power between 400 and 900 homes. The electricity would be bound for SMUD territory, which is most of Sacramento County. Most of Placer County gets its electricity delivered by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE: PCG), except for Roseville, which has its own municipal utility, Roseville Electric.
In its environmental document application, SMUD said it hopes to begin construction as early as the winter of 2023, with about 18 months to two years of construction.
A notice of preparation of an environmental impact report for the project is available on SMUD’s website. A virtual public scoping meeting about the Country Acres project is set for Dec. 8.
Public comments about the project are due Dec. 21, and they will be addressed in a draft environmental impact report, anticipated to be available for review in the spring, SMUD said.
SMUD’s board of directors this spring set an ambitious goal of having the utility generate zero carbon by 2030. Development of solar generation and battery storage are some of the ways SMUD plans to meet that goal.
