_{Thumbnail image: SitelogIQ had proposed using photovoltaic solar panels and battery backup to create a microgrid in the northern area of Crescent City that would power the school district, Sutter Coast Hospital, the airport and the Crescent Fire and Rescue fire hall. | Image courtesy of SitelogIQ}

Two years after outlining microgrid projects that would keep Del Norte County’s critical infrastructure functioning during a power outage, SitelogIQ representatives told supervisors that a facilities-based approach would be more feasible.

Despite spearheading successful projects in Pacific, Gas & Electric territory, including four in Humboldt County, SitelogIQ’s governor affairs and community development representative Kristy Coughlin said Del Norte County’s utility, Pacific Power, would be unable to manage a microgrid.

“Pacific Power determined they did not have the capacity, resources, personnel or infrastructure to support a community microgrid,” Coughlin told supervisors on Tuesday, adding that the company had met with Pacific Power in March.

Coughlin and her colleague Eddie Jordan, SitelogIQ’s vice president of development, laid out two alternatives, which relied on solar panels to power the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office and Flynn Center. The project would cost about $2.1 million, but would generate about $3.8 million in savings over the project’s 30-year life, Jordan said.

It’s a conclusion that disappointed District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard, whose re-election campaign last spring focused on energy redundancy. On Tuesday, he urged his colleagues to consider establishing a two-by-two committee to consider a next step despite Pacific Power’s limitations.

“The option of bringing in 50,000 gallons of diesel a day to operate this community is not obtainable in a true disaster, whether it’s a tsunami, whether we have road closures (or) failures like we have had in the past,” Howard said. “I’m not going to continue to beat this horse, but we do need to have a discussion about this. We are an isolated community and we will continue to be an isolated community and energy will be a major concern for us.”

The 50,000 gallons of diesel Howard referred to fueled the industrial sized generators Pacific Power used to restore electricity to Del Norte County after de-energizing its transmission line during the Smith River Complex wildfires in 2023. 
In January 2025, SitelogIQ entered into a contract with the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors to conduct a feasibility for two community microgrid projects. The first would connect with Pacific Power’s substation on Washington Boulevard and, using photovoltaic solar panels, would provide backup electricity to Del Norte Unified School District, the Del Norte County Airport, Sutter Coast Hospital and the emergency operations center.

SitelogIQ had been working with officials at the hospital, airport, school district and with Crescent City to determine where the solar panels should be located and what other infrastructure was needed. The March 20 meeting that included Pacific Power also included city, county, airport and Del Norte Unified School District officials.

The estimated project cost for a 4 megawatt solar system and a 4 megawatt battery storage system would be about $25 to $30 million, Jordan said. SitelogIQ would have determined if grant dollars or loan programs could fund that project.

The second proposed microgrid would be similar in size but would focus on the infrastructure in the southern part of Crescent City, Jordan said. 

It would tap into the Northcrest Drive substation and would potentially include solar panels at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds near CalFIRE’s Crescent City station, Coughlin said.

However, because of Pacific Power’s constraints, SitelogIQ shifted its focus to Del Norte’s two most critical facilities, Coughlin said. According to her, Pacific Power is conducting a system impact study to potentially connect its power grid to the Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative power grid. 

That endeavor would require a $250 million total investment in infrastructure, Coughlin said during her presentation. Pacific Power’s investment would be about $70.5 million and the Bonneville Power Administration, which supplies Coos-Curry Electric, would have to invest $200,000 for a secondary supply line to Del Norte County, according to Coughlin’s presentation.

An optional $179 million investment would provide resiliency for Coos-Curry Electric, according to SitelogIQ’s presentation. Establishing such redundancy would take seven to 10 years.

“How that would be funded is being researched by the utility,” Coughlin said. “(Pacific Power) was confident that was the best utility-grade long-term solution for a countywide utility improvement and system hardening.”

Noting that its annual energy consumption is 465,000 kilowatt hours at an annual cost of more than $75,000, Jordan proposed a 219 kilowatt carport solar system. 

At the Flynn Center, which uses 158,480 kilowatt hours of electricity at an annual cost of more than $27,000, Jordan proposed installing an 81 kilowatt rooftop system. He also proposed adding a backup generator and looking at opportunities for battery storage when that becomes available.

If both systems are installed within the next year, a $475,000 federal investment tax credit would be available to the county, according to Jordan. Installing a carport solar system at the sheriff’s office would also include two electric vehicle charging stations for the public, which could generate about $287,000, according to his presentation.

While he urged his colleagues to consider SitelogIQ’s facilities-based approach, Howard said Pacific Power’s connection to the Coos-Curry Electric system in Oregon continues to be the community’s “Achilles’ heel.”

“We really need to rely on our current power provider to really take that next step,” he said. “And, unfortunately, with the times and the litigious nature of how the fires have unraveled here in the State of California and in Oregon have directly impacted Pacific Power with incredibly large settlements. We as consumers will continue to pay for those massive settlements, this last one being over $1.2 billion.”

Howard urged his colleagues to think about ways to make Del Norte County more energy secure, stating that the community will be even further isolated in a natural disaster.

Howard’s District 2 colleague, Valerie Starkey, said alternative sources of electricity do exist in the form of generators. Both the sheriff’s office and the Flynn Center will continue to function in a power outage because of their generators, she said. 

Starkey supported Howard’s call for a two-by-two committee to continue to research ways to shore up Del Norte’s energy resiliency, but said she wasn’t sure if moving forward with the current proposal was the best option.

In April, the Del Norte Unified School District Board of Trustees decided that saving $1,000 to $6,000 a year by installing solar panels near Bess Maxwell Elementary School wouldn’t be worth the $5 million project cost. 

DNUSD Superintendent Jeff Harris had reported back to the School Board after attending the March 20 meeting with SitelogIQ, Pacific Power and other local officials. Harris had also consulted with the district’s financial advisor Jon Isom. 

According to Harris, Pacific Power had decided at that point that it couldn’t connect solar panels to its grid. SitelogIQ’s proposal also didn’t include battery backup and if the electricity went out, most DNUSD campuses would be without power, Harris said.