DISTRICT HISTORY AND ELECTRIC BACKGROUND

South San Joaquin Irrigation District is Poised for Public Power

In 1909, the South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID) was established to provide a reliable and economical source of irrigation water for South San Joaquin County’s agricultural regions including the cities of Manteca, Escalon and Ripon and adjacent unincorporated areas.  Since then, SSJID has made significant investments and improvements in its provision of agricultural water service to the region.  Recent cooperative water conservation efforts on behalf of District growers and staff have allowed SSJID to share its water resources with other local agencies that are experiencing drought conditions.  SSJID’s agricultural water system is top quality, and its water charges are some of the lowest in California due to sound fiscal and strategic management.  Today, SSJID serves about 55,000 acres of prime agricultural land that provides many economic and environmental advantages to our area.

About mid-way through the last century of service, SSJID formed the Tri-Dam System with Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) and began producing hydroelectric power through a series of dams, reservoirs and powerhouses on the middle fork of the Stanislaus River.  The Tri-Dam Project has been flawlessly and reliably generating and marketing wholesale electricity since 1957.  A long-term contract kept power supplies sold for many years to Pacific Gas & Electric steady and helped to pay for the entire system.  OID and SSJID currently have a profitable contract with Shell Energy for the energy produced by Tri-Dam.  For more information on the Tri-Dam Project, please go to www.tridamproject.com.

The California Water Code allows for irrigation districts to provide three major utility services to the communities they serve:  irrigation water, domestic water and power.  While SSJID was originally formed by local voters to provide irrigation water to South San Joaquin County’s agricultural areas, it has expanded its services to provide much-needed supplemental surface water from the Stanislaus River for domestic purposes.  Currently, the cities of Manteca, Lathrop, Tracy and Escalon benefit from SSJID’s Nick C. DeGroot Water Treatment Plant, a state of the art facility located in Oakdale, CA. SSJID is proud of its long history of putting its resources to work for the needs of its service territory.

It’s true that SSJID has been working many years on its vision of providing retail electric service to its service territory. We’ve had successes and met obstacles challenges along with way.  It is the commitment of our Board of Directors, our management and our entire staff to provide you with all the benefits that electric customers deserve:  affordable rates, increased reliability, responsive customer service and local control.  It is our promise that we will not continue to pursue purchasing PG&E’s electric distribution system if we cannot deliver on these benefits.

Timeline:

1909     South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID) was founded.

1955     Tri-Dam organization formed jointly between Oakdale Irrigation             District (OID) and SSJID.

1957     Tri-Dam facilities (Donnells, Beardsley and Tulloch) become             operational (built in 2 years).

1980s   Mini-hydro power plants were built.

1982     Woodward mini-hydro – 2,300 kw originally; Tri-Dam Power             Authority is formed.

1983     Frankenheimer mini-hydro 4,300 kw originally.

1984     Sandbar Hydroelectric plant goes online as the generation and             transmission project of Tri-Dam Power Authority 16.2 mw.

2005     SSJID/OID renegotiate wholesale rate for hydropower to PG&E,             which improves revenue stream.

2007     Solar Farm begins construction at Water Treatment Plant site.

2008    First phase of 1.4 mgwt Robert O. Schulz Solar Farm is            complete, with the second phase operational in 2009.  Solar            Farm provides power for the district’s water treatment plant that            serves Manteca, Tracy, Lathrop and Escalon, saving over            $400,000 in power costs.

2008    SSJID/OID terminate wholesale power contract with PG&E and            enter into contract with Shell Energy, continuing to improving            revenue stream.