California Indian Museum and Cultural Center

A solar+storage system will enable the California Indian Museum & Cultural Center to act as a cooling shelter for up to 125 people during heat waves and power outages.

Solar array on the rooftop of the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center. Credit: CIMCC

As wildfires and extreme heat events surge in California, so too do power outages, including those from Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS), in which the utility temporarily shuts down the grid to reduce the risk of fires caused by utility infrastructure. The increase in the occurrence and duration of these outages has highlighted the critical need for resilient power systems, especially in wildfire prone Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino Counties. These events have not only disrupted access to essential services but have also exacerbated existing health disparities within these counties, which include significant Native American populations.  

The California Indian Museum & Cultural Center (CIMCC), which serves a community including 24 Tribes and over 25,000 Native American people across a 6,400-square-mile region in Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino Counties, has taken steps to enhance energy independence and resilience. The devastating 2017 Tubbs Fire, which ravaged Northern California in October 2017, particularly influenced CIMCC's decision to strengthen its preparedness for emergency events. The Tubbs Fire spread throughout Sonoma, Lake, and Napa counties and was one of the most destructive wildfires in California's history. It burned over 36,000 acres, destroyed over 5,000 structures, including homes and businesses, and tragically claimed 22 lives. CIMCC was also impacted by Public Safety Power Shutoffs. Frequent and prolonged power outages motivated CIMCC to invest in the backup power necessary to support their community through these emergency events. 

CIMCC recognized a need in their community for a place where residents could seek shelter during power outages, and access essential services like heating and cooling, outlets to charge cell phones and medical devices, and kitchen facilities to prepare food. CIMCC decided to explore the possibility of installing solar combined with energy storage to create a community resilience hub. 

In 2020, CIMCC applied for and received a Technical Assistance Fund (TAF) award from Clean Energy Group. The TAF award funded an in-depth solar+storage feasibility analysis for CIMCC. The analysis, which was conducted by American Microgrid Solutions, evaluated project costs, resilience benefits, economic feasibility, and system design. The TAF’s predevelopment support enabled CIMCC to take the next steps towards building a resilient solar+storage system, including securing incentives and financing. 

By investing in resilient power technologies and implementing community-centered energy resilience strategies, CIMCC is working to protect its ancestral homelands and safeguard the well-being of its community members. CIMCC’s resilient power development was supported through their Resilient Native Generations initiative, which seeks to ensure that California Tribal perspectives have a seat at the table in environmental stewardship and climate change mitigation. Integrating Tribal leadership, priorities and traditional ecological knowledge is essential for moving forward in meaningful partnership and substantive change. 

 “…Wildfires have not just impacted access to our facility, but the 24 Tribes that we serve experienced wildfires and have been impacted. This put a spotlight on the inequitable distribution of resources in times of crisis and how people go about accessing resources. Being a trusted community-based organization for over three decades, we know that our community members need. We want to meet their needs and respond in times of need.” – Nicole Lim, Executive Director, CIMCC 

Project Challenges 

The path to energy independence has not come without its challenges. CIMCC faced (and continues to face) numerous hurdles to installation and connection, including securing a contractor, delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and permitting and interconnection delays. CIMCC also experienced challenges in securing funding to pursue this ambitious effort. CIMCC applied for California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP), which provides rebates for critical facilities that install battery storage. Nicole Lim, Executive Director of CIMCC, expressed that the process to access SGIP rebates was very technical and time consuming. Ultimately, they qualified for SGIP but received less incentive funding than they had expected. This project was ultimately able to move forward by combining multiple funding and finance sources, including a 5-year power purchase agreement (PPA) and support from private funding partners.   

Additionally, the project has faced significant setbacks due to prolonged interconnection delays for the battery storage system (the system is installed but unable to operate due to pending interconnection). This set back the overall progress and potential benefits of the solar and storage installation, including hindering CIMCC’s ability to achieve its energy resilience goals in a timely manner. 

System 

CIMCC’s facility is equipped with a 76.5-kilowatt solar system and a 220-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery storage system. The total installation cost for the solar and battery system was $477,881. CIMCC’s solar system became operational in 2021. The battery storage system experienced permitting and interconnection delays and, although installed in 2023, it is not anticipated to be commissioned until spring 2025. Once fully operational, the solar+storage system will support critical loads for 72 hours during power outages, including an air filtration system and public areas such as a community room, which can shelter up to 125 people and includes a kitchen.  

Solar and storage will also support air conditioning. During the solar and storage development process, CIMCC worked with Sonoma County to receive cooling center designation, an especially important goal for CIMCC after their community suffered when a 5-day PSPS outage coincided with a heatwave. In addition to resilience benefits, the system is expected to offset 68 metric tons of carbon. 

“Our technical assistance grant from Clean Energy Group supported our efforts to verify the feasibility of our Resilient Native Generations Project,” said Nicole Lim, Executive Director of the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center. “In serving our local tribal community, it is critical that we implement strategies that provide environmental and cultural resource protection and emergency response during wildfires and power outages.”