WASCO, Calif. (KERO) — At a public meeting and open house on Wednesday, members of the Wasco community were able to learn about the CHRSA's want to include solar energy as a way to power the trains.
- The California High-Speed Rail Authority is exploring a solar energy project to power its trains.
- An open house was held in Wasco to discuss the photovoltaic and battery energy storage system.
- Community feedback is being sought to identify potential issues with the project.
- Two locations have been proposed for solar arrays and battery storage near Wasco.
- Public comments are welcome until April 8th, encouraging community involvement.
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BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The California High-Speed Rail Authority believes it can run its train on green energy, I'm Sam Hoyle your neighborhood reporter, on Wednesday in Wasco, the rail authority held an open house and public meeting on the photovoltaic and battery energy storage system project, succinctly known as PV/Bess.
The project is still very much in the early stages, and the rail authority is asking the community where they think the problems could lie ahead for the project. "What do I need to make sure goes into the environmental document, so for that I am soliciting your help," said Andrew Bayne, CHRSA Project Manager.
So what is the PV/Bess project?
"These photovoltaic facilities will be placed all across the alignment and will help generate electricity and energy from sunlight that will help power our trains that will be running up and down the central valley," said Augie Blancas, CHSRA Public Information Officer.
In layman's terms, a solar array will harness energy from the sun, bank it in large batteries at power substations along the way, and then use that energy to power trains, while also being connected to the grid to either pull energy from it or sell back surplus energy generated. Looking locally, the Rail Authority has two plots of land picked out for the photovoltaic array, that being near the rail head on Merced Avenue and Highway 43 between Shafter and Wasco, and the battery energy storage system which is slated to be just north of Highway 46 off of F Street in Wasco and they're open to input whether you attended the meeting or not.
"We want to hear what they would consider issues that would be specific to specific locations where we are considering placing these facilities. You know, community input, community feedback is very important for us and for the high school project. We want to make sure that we are building a system that is guided by the values and by guided by community input and community feedback," said Blancas.
The public comment period for this project runs through April 8th.
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