Scale Microgrids to Build Clean Energy System with the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians

April 4, 2023

BUSINESS WIRE

Summary

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As part of their strategic initiative to rapidly deploy cleaner and more resilient energy infrastructure across tribal lands, Scale Microgrids (“Scale”) is announcing an exciting new project with the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians.

Scale will build and install a microgrid for the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians (Soboba) at its Soboba Casino Resort that will serve as both an economic asset for the tribe and an emergency cooling center in the event of a community-wide power outage.

Historically, Tribal communities suffer from higher service costs, higher interconnection fees, more blackouts or brownouts, and remote and distant service locations. Distributed, on-site power generation future-proofs power availability and equips tribal communities with a competitive advantage on energy costs over the traditional utility service. The Soboba microgrid will work in energy savings mode when the utility is available and will also back up the facility for short-term and long-term outages.

Soboba’s 474,000 square foot casino, hotel, and golf course will offset its power consumption from 1.5 MW of rooftop solar and a 6 MWh energy storage system with 24/7/365 on-site and remote monitoring by Scale.

In addition to designing the microgrid system for the facility’s specific needs, Scale’s development team secured funding from California’s Self Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) and the Direct Pay Investment Tax Credit for tribes to fund more than half of the project costs.

“The impact of the Soboba Microgrid project goes beyond kilowatt hours and savings. It secures the community’s long-term energy sovereignty and will inspire more public and private sector distributed energy development efforts on tribal lands,” says Guillermo Gomez, Business Development Manager at Scale Microgrids.

“America’s energy transition must include tribal lands,” says Ryan Goodman, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Scale Microgrids. “As we work towards our mission of powering the world with distributed energy, we are committed to leading the way for equal access and economic equality.”

"This project serves our mission to strengthen our tribe’s sovereignty, self-sufficiency, and prosperity,” says Soboba’s Tribal Council. “We are responsible for helping our people and our land thrive for generations to come, and we believe this microgrid system is an important step towards advancing our objectives."

Scale is partnering with Chris Deschene to rapidly deploy cleaner and more resilient energy infrastructure within Indian Country. Mr. Deschene has completed a distinguished term as the Director of the Office of Indian Energy within the U.S. Department of Energy. During his career, he served as general counsel and advisor to tribes, and built strong partnerships between non-Indian energy businesses and tribal leaders working on energy projects within Indian Country. Mr. Deschene’s extensive federal, state, and tribal government and legislative networks and experience have served this project and Soboba’s leadership well. Scale is proud to work with Mr. Deschene.

About Scale Microgrids: Scale is a vertically integrated distributed energy platform, with a core focus of designing, building, financing, owning and operating cutting-edge distributed energy assets that offer cheaper, cleaner, and more resilient power. Their team of energy and financing experts accelerate growth in distributed energy projects by providing financing to technology providers, energy developers, and OEMs, while also directly helping large energy-consuming customers to take charge of their energy infrastructure and future-proof their businesses.

About Soboba Casino Resort: Soboba Casino Resort is proudly owned and operated by the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians. Find your Element, at Soboba Casino Resort. Visit soboba.com for details. Soboba Casino: 22777 Soboba Road, San Jacinto, CA 92583, (951) 665-1000.