California, once again, is leading the nation with its ambitious clean energy goals, which include calling for net zero emissions and 100% clean energy by 2045. Success will require exponential growth in battery storage facilities, solar power, electric vehicles, smart buildings and more – fueled by investment by both the private and public sector.
Perhaps surprisingly, one of the leading businesses helping with this transition is our company, Prologis, which is the global leader in logistics real estate. Actually, we are uniquely positioned to accelerate clean energy projects throughout Southern California to both serve our customers and help the state meet its far-reaching goals. Southern California is Prologis’ largest market, and the company has adopted- ed our own ambitious goal to have net zero emissions across our value chain by 2040 – five years earlier than the state’s climate plan.
For those unfamiliar with our brand, Prologis builds, owns and leases distribution centers. A global company, we were founded in San Francisco and continue to call California our home. In the past decade, we have expanded our services to better meet our customers’ needs. This includes a quickly growing solar and battery storage business as well as EV charging. These clean energy offerings not only help our customers on their sustainability journey but also help bring the benefits of clean energy to the communities in which we operate.
• Solar Power. What makes more sense than putting solar panels on top of a distribution center? Prologis has more than 50 solar power installations on its Southern California buildings that provide clean energy for its customers’ operations and share access to clean power with local utilities. Today, in large part thanks to these solar installations, Prologis ranks second in the nation for corporate on-site solar generation. We recently passed 500 megawatts generated in solar and storage, moving us significantly closer to our goal of one gigawatt of solar and battery storage by 2025.
• Energy Storage. Solar panels alone won’t get us to the clean energy goals the state has set. Battery storage facilities, which capture wind and solar power and discharge it to the electric grid during times of peak demand, are an essential element in meeting the state’s clean energy goals.
That’s why we’re so excited about many of our new projects. For example, in Long Beach, Prologis is planning to build a battery storage project – the 55-megawatt Wallace Energy storage Project – that will provide the grid with reliable capacity, enough to power 41,250 homes.
We recently signed an agreement with the Clean Power Alliance, a major green power provider in the U.S., to supply 300 megawatts of battery storage to Los Angeles and Ventura County residents, which will support grid reliability. These communities have suffered power shortages during storms with heavy winds.
We’re also working with other local power providers, including Redwood Coast Energy Authority and Peninsula Clean Energy, to provide power via battery storage that will serve nearly 80,000 California homes and help these agencies meet their clean energy targets.
These types of projects are not insignificant investments of capital, but we not only believe they are smart business decisions, but we are also proud of the contribution we’re making to increasing the state’s supply of clean energy and helping support grid reliability (which we know we cannot take for granted in our state).
• Serving Local Communities. We’re also partnering with local public utility companies to help make clean power available to their customers. Our partnership with the Clean Power Alliance will provide 11.89 megawatts from our rooftop solar installations to the Alliance’s Power Share Program. The program provides low-income residents in under-resourced communities access to 100% renewable power at a 20% discount on their monthly electric bill. The solar installations will produce enough energy to power nearly 4,000 Los Angeles and Ventura County homes each year while avoiding 19,600 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year.
Finally, we’re also installing solar panels on top of our distribution centers to supply renewable energy directly to Los Angeles Department of Water and Power ’s customers.
• Commercial EV Charging. We have already developed the nation’s largest commercial truck charging installations in two Southern California cities, Commerce and Santa Fe Springs, to charge electric-powered trucks serving the two LA-areas ports. These installations, along with other Prologis planned truck charging stations in Southern California, will support California’s first-in-the-world rule requiring truck manufacturers to transition to zero emissions by 2045. They will also help our company’s customers meet their clean energy goals.
We’re also working to help policy makers at the federal, state and local level understand the role that the private sector can play in this transition to clean energy. The head of our Mobility business, Henrik Holland, contributes at the federal level through his appointment to the Electric Vehicle Working Group.
• Smart Buildings. In Irwindale, we have Southern California’s first industrial smart building that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 800,000 kilograms of CO2 annually. The award-winning building, which is leased by our customer The Home Depot, leverages a Building Automation System, smart energy metering, solar panels, high-efficiency air con- ditioning units and LED lighting that adjusts with daylight.
The move to clean energy will require time, energy and investment from both the public and private sector. Our energy and EV solutions, which go beyond the four walls of our buildings, are instrumental to our ability to support our customers’ progress in their sustainability journey. We’re excited about the opportunity our company has to significantly contribute to the state and nation’s clean energy transition and future through our partnerships with state and local governments, community groups, utilities and our customers. Working together, we can achieve the ambitious public and private goals to which we all aspire!
Vibhu Kaushik is SVP, global head of Energy, Utilities and Storage for Prologis; Rob Antrobius is SVP, Los Angeles market officer for Prologis. Both live and work in Los Angeles. Prologis operates more than 500 buildings in Southern California (Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Diego County and the Inland Empire). Learn more at prologis.com.
