Boxer Praises Agreement to Connect Clean Energy Projects at National Parks to Electric Grid

Dozens of California Projects Had Been Waiting for Up to Two and Half Years for Interconnection Agreements

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today praised the agreement reached by Southern California Edison and the National Park Service to connect more than 20 existing renewable energy projects at Park Service facilities in California to the electric grid. Southern California Edison is also close to finalizing agreements with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Forest Service to ensure that clean energy projects at their facilities are soon connected to the grid.

Senator Boxer said, “This is great news. It’s a win-win all around. It will mean lower costs for taxpayers and clean energy benefits to the environment.”

Senator Boxer wrote a letter to Southern California Edison last month requesting that the utility move without delay to execute interconnection agreements for dozens of projects that had been waiting for up to two and a half years to connect to the grid. Representatives from Senator Boxer’s office, Governor Brown’s office, the General Services Administration, Southern California Edison and the federal agencies involved held meetings in recent weeks to resolve the issues that had held up the agreements.

The renewable energy projects are located in the following National Park Service units in California: Death Valley National Park, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Channel Islands National Park, Mojave National Preserve and Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks.

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