SAN DIEGO – Cordia, a Phoenix energy company, has expanded its San Diego operations with the acquisition of a power plant that provides chilled water for air conditioning to several East Village commercial buildings.
“The East Village District Plant is a strategic complement to our existing operations in downtown San Diego,” said Jake Graff, Cordia’s regional president for the north and west region.
“This acquisition enables us to better serve the city’s growing energy needs while laying the groundwork for continued decarbonization and clean energy integration,” Graff said.
The company for more than 50 years has owned a similar plant at Kettner Boulevard and Broadway that provides chilled water to several buildings, totaling more than 3.2 million square feet of space in a one-square-mile area of the downtown business district.
“We’ve been serving many important customers downtown,” said Jay Zaghloul, West Region director of business development and director of client relations.
They include the Hall of Justice, the San Diego Marriott, the Lyceum Theater and Civic Center Plaza.
“We have a foothold. We’re not like newcomers to San Diego,” Zaghloul said. “Part of our growth strategy is basically acquisitions, mergers and so forth.
Room to Expand
Developed by JMI Realty in 2004 to serve the Ballpark District, the East Village District Plant provides chilled water through a series of underground pipelines stretching 8,500 linear feet.
“It’s like electricity. It’s all underground. You flip a switch, and you get electricity, or in this case, you flick the thermostat,” Zaghloul said. “It’s a simple process. Instead of a building making chilled water or making air conditioning, it’s ready to go.”
Built on a former parking lot, the East Village District Plant itself is a two-story, 9,500-square-foot building with four chillers that produce 5,200 tons of cooling.
The chillers function like home air conditioning compressors, with cooling towers on the roof.
“You send cold water out, then return it again, and do it 24/7,” Zaghloul said.
At street level, the plant is simple in appearance, with a tan brick façade on the ground level and mechanical equipment behind metal panels on an upper level.
The East Village Plant has room to expand to accommodate future development in the Ballpark District.
“We still have some capacity for probably another major customer, and if we need to, we will definitely expand,” Zaghloul said.
The plant is managed through an online system accessible from any computer or handheld digital device.
Over time and in keeping with the city’s clean energy goals, Cordia plans to add solar panels to its East Village plant, according to Zaghloul.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure our electricity is from renewable resources,” Zaghloul said. “Our corporate guidelines are that we need to be carbon free by 2050. By 2050, we want to have 100% of our electric supply for all our systems, not just in San Diego, to be from renewable resources.”
The older downtown system was built in 1971 and underwent major renovations in 1999.
In 2016, Cordia replaced two chillers of 2,500 tons and 1,500 tons with new, more sustainable electrically driven chillers.
Cordia
FOUNDED: 2022 (formerly known as Clearway Community Energy)
CEO: Earl Collins
HEADQUARTERS: Phoenix
BUSINESS: energy services
EMPLOYEES: 300+
CONTACT: 619-539-7309
WEBSITE: www.cordiaenergy.com
NOTABLE: Cordia is a leading provider of safe, reliable and sustainable energy, serving more than 700 customers with heating, cooling and electricity throughout the U.S., with California offices in San Diego and San Francisco.
A native of New England, Ray Huard has been a reporter at newspapers in California, Florida and New England, including The (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union, the Miami Herald, the Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the North County Times, and the San Diego Business Journal. He has covered a wide variety of beats including real estate, politics, science, the environment, state and city government and courts.
