Partnership plans to build solar array with Sierra College Students

BY MARK GLOVER

Rocklin-based Energy 2001, the Western Placer Waste Management Authority and Sierra College announced a partnership that will give Sierra College business and technology students the opportunity to plan, construct and install a 9-kilowatt commercial solar array near Roseville this fall.

Energy 2001 operates a 5-megawatt power plant at the Western Regional Sanitary Landfill, site of the proposed solar array. The landfill’s gas-to-electricity power plant produces enough electricity to power 3,000 homes every year, officials said. Energy 2001 is providing funding for the project.

This landfill facility is the product of a 18-year year partnership with WPWMA, a joint powers authority created in 1978 to meet the recycling and waste-disposal needs of Roseville, Lincoln, Rocklin, Loomis, Auburn and Colfax.

In a statement, Laura Rasmussen, Energy 2001’s owner and chief operating officer, said: “We believe the key to unlocking this potential is to provide real world training for the next generation of energy innovators and entrepreneurs, and that’s what makes this new partnership withWPWMA and Sierra College so exciting.”

The project will be part of Sierra College’s fall 2015 Advanced Solar Class.

Mark Glover: 916-321-1184, @markhglover

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Posted: July 21, 2015