SACRAMENTO (OBSNews.com) – Solar electricity systems are being installed at nine U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District park and dam operation offices in California, part of a Corps-wide effort to improve the environmental sustainability of its projects.

The systems, paid for with funds provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), are expected to provide 41 percent of each office’s electricity needs on average, said Sacramento District Northern Area Operations Manager Phil Holcomb.

The solar panels at New Hogan Lake will not only reduce energy consumption, Holcomb said, but also greenhouse gases – by more than 28,000 pounds annually, the same as planting six acres of trees. District wide, the panels will cut carbon emissions by 156,000 pounds annually. The solar panels are just one of a series of measures Sacramento District park offices have taken to reduce energy consumption, he said.

The $1.26 million contract to provide and install all of the solar systems was awarded in September to Women’s Empowerment Partnership Inc. of Bell Gardens, Calif., an 8(a) designated contractor. The Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program helps small businesses owned by socially or economically disadvantaged persons secure federal contracts.

Installation of the system at New Hogan Lake was completed Feb. 26, with all system installations scheduled to be completed by June. Offices at Englebright Lake, Stanislaus River Parks, Lake Isabella Dam, Black Butte Lake, Eastman Lake, Pine Flat Lake, Hensley Lake and Lake Kaweah will also receive solar electricity systems under the contract.

Sustainability is one of the Corps’ seven environmental operating principles implemented in 2002, an organization-wide commitment to including environmental protection and enhancement in its projects and planning processes.

“This project is doing exactly what the stimulus dollars were intended to do,” Holcomb said. “It’s providing business opportunity to a small, disadvantaged business, and in turn, it’s allowing local people to do the solar installation. And as a secondary benefit, the federal government is reducing their energy consumption and meeting our sustainability goals. It’s a great project for the Corps to be involved in.”