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CHOWCHILLA -- A San Diego-area solar-power company is cultivating some new customers in the San Joaquin Valley: farmers looking to slash their utility bills.
Cenergy Power recently broke ground on a 540-kilowatt system at Minturn Huller in Chowchilla, an almond huller and sheller.
The cooperative joins a growing number of agricultural companies using solar to help power everything from water pumps to processing equipment.
Minturn's system -- estimated to cut the cooperative's power bill by 20 percent annually -- is one of several projects Cenergy has begun or completed over the last year.
It has installed systems on farms, nut-processing facilities and hullers in the Merced area, Turlock, Le Grand, Bakersfield and Madera.
"We are seeing a lot of traction in the Valley," said Nader Yarpezeshkan, Cenergy's director of business development. "Farmers see their costs going up every year, and they are looking for ways to cut their utility bills." This time of year, few industries consume as much energy as almond hullers and shellers.
From the middle of August to nearly Thanksgiving, Minturn's plant runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And all of its equipment that removes the hulls and shells from the nut is electric-powered.
The cooperative serves more than 260 almond growers in the Valley.
Jeff Hamilton, the plant's general manager, estimates the company's electric bill runs between $45,000 to $50,000 a month.
"We are trying to manage our costs as best we can, and we are hoping this will be a good step forward," Hamilton said.
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