Unison Energy Announces Microgrid, Energy-as-a-Service Deal for RIDA Chula Vista LLC’s Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center

The microgrid will deliver significant savings and support the Marriott-managed resort and convention center, one of the largest hotel convention center and ballrooms on the West Coast

CHULA VISTA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Unison Energy, an Energy-as-a-Service provider of on-site power generation for critical infrastructure facilities, announced it has entered an agreement with RIDA Chula Vista, LLC, the developer of the Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center, to build a microgrid on the property in Chula Vista Bayfront. When complete, the microgrid will provide nearly all of the power required for California’s largest hotel and convention center. Gaylord Hotels are part of the Marriott portfolio of brands.

Unison will finance, build, own and operate the microgrid under a 20-year Energy-as-a-Service agreement, which Unison estimates will significantly reduce Gaylord Pacific’s annual energy costs.

“We are honored that RIDA Chula Vista, LLC and their partners at Gaylord Hotels and Marriott trust us with building a microgrid at the Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center,” said Mariko Meier, CEO of Unison Energy. “We are also thrilled to be a part of the amazing transformation that’s happening in Chula Vista, where an industrial zone was converted into one of the largest hotel and convention centers on the West Coast. We are looking forward to getting to work and completing what will become our third microgrid at a Gaylord property.”

Gaylord Pacific is home to 1,600 guest rooms including 89 suites, 12 food and beverage concepts, a 4.25-acre waterpark with multiple pools, and more than 477,000 square feet of meeting and event space. The property’s California Ballroom & Exhibit Hall, at 140,049 square feet, is the largest convention center and ballroom at any hotel in California and among the largest on the West Coast.

The microgrid will create efficiencies and provide nearly all of the resort’s electric load. The system will also capture exhaust heat that will help produce hot water and offset the use of an existing boiler. These efficiencies will create savings that add value to the reliability of the microgrid which will protect the guest and convention center event experience from disruption in the event of a power outage.

Unison Energy qualified for a safe-harbored Investment Tax Credit of 30% and an additional 10% Energy Community bonus credit because the Gaylord Hotel was developed on a site that was once home to an electric generating plant. The tax credit will help Unison provide the hotel with a reduced energy rate. According to government officials, the property’s redevelopment created 7,000 construction jobs and will support thousands of permanent jobs. It will also bring an estimated sustained economic impact for the region of nearly $500 million annually.

When complete, Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center will join Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center and Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center as the third Gaylord Hotels property to receive power from a Unison Energy microgrid.

About Unison Energy

Unison Energy designs, builds, owns, and operates microgrids on-site through its Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) model for critical infrastructure facilities including hospitals, data centers, food & beverage and other industrial, supply chain logistics, and hospitality customers across North America. Unison’s on-site systems lower customers' energy costs, improve resiliency during grid outages, and reduce carbon emissions – all without any upfront capital investment from the customer. Unison Energy is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut. For more information, please visit www.unisonenergy.com.