Vacaville highlights solar, tree‑planting and internships in city sustainability project

Vacaville City staff presented a short video and summary of the city’s sustainability project with Optera Energy Services, describing solar installations, backup power installations and community benefits.

Mayor John Carly and City Manager Sevita Chadri introduced the project video. Public Works Director Brian Oxley said the eight solar systems in the project are estimated to generate approximately 4,200 megawatt‑hours annually and would offset about 2,100 metric tons of CO2. The project also provided emergency backup power at City Hall and the fire station, a tree infusion program that planted 327 trees across downtown and parks, downtown murals funded through the project partner and paid internships with Solano Community College.

An Altera intern who worked on the project described the value of a local internship opportunity and the pride of contributing to a visible community improvement. Staff emphasized that the project supports the city’s energy‑savings goals, reliability and carbon‑emission reduction efforts.

What happens next: staff encouraged residents to visit downtown to see the murals and said internship and monitoring details will be part of ongoing project reporting to council.