An Investigation of Municipal Utility Funding for El Centro, California

Abstract

To complement an economic and engineering evaluation of nonelectric utilization of hydrothermal resources in the City of El Centro pursuant to a DOE funded study, an institutional barriers assessment was undertaken. This assessment explored two major topics, the first of which was the investigation of institutional options available to the City of El Centro in structuring a publicly controlled geothermal utility for space heating/cooling and hot water heating. After reviewing each option, the municipal utility and nonprofit corporation were chosen as viable alternatives for an El Centro utility system. The second topic explored was the financing for such a utility. It was concluded that financing via traditional sources of municipal funding may be difficult. However, tax exempt financing through a lease purchase arrangement with a nonprofit corporation may be feasible.