Enchanted Rock Delivers 148 MW of Gas-fired Power for California Water Districts

June 21, 2024

The generators are positioned front of the meter and hosted by the Modesto Irrigation District, the city of Lodi and the Turlock Irrigation District. Texas-based Enchanted Rock will monitor and manage operations of the generator sets for the water infrastructure.

Rod Walton, Managing Editor

Turlock Irrigation District. Image credit California Ag Today/Fresco County Farm Bureau

Microgrid developer Enchanted Rock is providing 148 MW of fast-response, dispatchable power through three gas-fired generators to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR).

"We're proud to be a project partner and support DWR's commitment to diversifying and bolstering its power resources," Jimi Netniss, general manage of the Modesto Irrigation District, said.

Natural gas will be supplied by the northern California-based utility Pacific Gas & Electric. The emissions levels will meet San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District non-emergency operational standards, according to the release.

“These natural gas-powered gensets will not only provide emergency backup electricity for California during extreme weather. Because they operate cleanly, quietly and on-demand, they will do so while meeting strict air quality standards and without disturbing the surrounding area’s quality of life,” Allan Schurr, chief commercial officer for Enchanted Rock, said in a statement.

Enchanted Rock has provided microgrid and on-site power generation for numerous critical infrastructure sites around the nation. West Harris County Regional Water Authority and the city of Houston’s Northeast Water Purification Plant, both in Texas, contracted the company to deliver multi-MW microgrids to backup and support operations.

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In California, Enchanted Rock also is working with tech giant Microsoft on developing a microgrid powered by renewable natural gas to support the latter’s data operations.

The gen-sets for Modesto, Lodi and Turlock customers can generate enough electricity to power approximately 100,000 homes during an extreme weather event, according to reports. California is prone to power shutoffs due to wildfire dangers and coastal storms.

About the Author

Rod Walton, Managing Editor | Managing Editor

For Microgrid Knowledge editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

I’ve spent the last 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. I was an energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World before moving to business-to-business media at PennWell Publishing, which later became Clarion Events, where I covered the electric power industry. I joined Endeavor Business Media in November 2021 to help launch EnergyTech, one of the company’s newest media brands. I joined Microgrid Knowledge in July 2023.

I earned my Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. My career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World, all in Oklahoma . I have been married to Laura for the past 33-plus years and we have four children and one adorable granddaughter. We want the energy transition to make their lives better in the future.

Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech are focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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