City of Brawley

Background

The City of Brawley operates the water service and waste water services for the residents of Brawley. When you turn on your tap to fill a glass of water that water is provided by the City. And when the water falls into the sink or you flush a toilet, the water enters our wastewater system and is then cleaned up at our local sewer plant. Once the water meets certain cleanliness standards the water is released into the New River.

Wastewater systems and sewer treatment plants are expensive to build and operate, and the community has made significant investments in the sewer plant we own and operate. Sewer treatment plants require intensive amounts of energy as the action of moving and pumping water is quite demanding. Sewer treatment plants across California and beyond have been innovating with renewable energy sources such as solar panels and methane gas recapture to try to produce cheaper energy to operate the sewer plants.

The City of Brawley has been looking for ways to save money at our sewer treatment plant through smart staffing, efficient operations or new revenue streams. The partnership with Clean Water Ventures represents a new revenue stream to fund the operations of the sewer treatment plant and provides a long-term cost-effective source of energy to support sewer plant operations.

The Clean Water Ventures Opportunity

Clean Water Ventures (CWV) has developed technology to take moderately treated wastewater and extract clean steam energy / clean electricity and clean “green” hydrogen gas from this process. CWV’s technology can then use this to capture hydrogen gas to produce energy and clean de-ionized water that it can sell into the market. The City of Brawley is agreeing to purchase electricity produced by CWV’s clean hydrogen source to fully power the sewer plant. The rate for the power purchase is the same as the Imperial Irrigation District - our local energy company, but the rate is locked for 20 years and will yield significant savings in the long term.

To get the wastewater it needs to capture hydrogen, CWV has agreed to purchase up to approximately 2,000 acre feet of water a year. This is about 55% of the wastewater produced as the sewer plant in 2023. This is water that would otherwise be released into the New River and generate no revenue for the City. It is anticipated that full-year revenues, once the project is up and running, will be $1,200,000.

CWV will be hiring operating staff for its plant and adding about 20 local jobs.

The master agreement with CWV was presented at the 3/5/2024 City Council meeting and sub-agreement details were ratified at the 5/7/24 City Council meeting. The contract and related staff report are below.

Key points of the agreement include:

• The City will sell treated water from the City of Brawley’s sewer plant to Clean Water Ventures, Inc. at a rate of $600 per acre-foot. 

• The City will purchase power from the CWV to power its sewer plant operations at rates that match and will eventually be below Imperial Irrigation District.

• The City will continue to own, operate and maintain its own water and sewer systems.

• CWV will locate its plant on the same site as the City sewer treatment plant.

Common Questions and Concerns