Our Sustainability Commitment
Delivering Renewable Energy in Harmony with Nature
We believe sustainability is good business; it adds value for our customers by improving the quality of the environment in which we live.
Environmental Respect is one of the Core Principles BHE Renewables was founded upon. Our commitment to sustainability goes beyond renewable energy generation as we aim to preserve, restore, protect and improve our natural surroundings.
Our team members uphold environmental stewardship every day across 11 states with sustainable practices – protecting large mammals to microscopic crustaceans and an array of native plants and insects. Explore some of the ways our actions reflect our beliefs.
Restoring Habitats for Future Generations
BHE Renewables joined forces with a young Eagle Scout who had a noble idea to restore burrowing owl habitats in California’s Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge.
At just 17, Caleb Armenta’s passion for wildlife conservation made a lasting impact.
Our team members worked with 10 Boy Scouts in early March 2024 to rewire posts, clear old materials and dig out exposed pipes to effectively restore some of the habitats for the smaller birds that nest underground.
Burrowing owls are currently listed as a species of concern due to habitat loss in California. The project refurbished 40 habitats, which consisted of underground boxes, within the refuge.
Helping an Endangered Species Thrive
California is home to many threatened and endangered species, including the San Joaquin kit fox. The San Joaquin kit fox is the smallest fox in North America and is primarily active at night and often use ready-made dens like culverts and unused pipe equipment.
The San Joaquin kit fox is an ongoing example of our dedication to habitat conservation, ensuring a healthy and secure environment for the kit fox not to just survive but to flourish. Our commitment extends beyond survival, aiming to create conditions where the kit fox and other species coexist in their natural environment.
At Topaz Solar Farms, artificial dens have been installed for kit fox habitation throughout the property. The kit fox is considered an umbrella species as it has similar habitat requirements to those of many other species, which means that protecting the kit fox benefits other species in the ecosystem as well.
Surveys, monitoring and research are continuously conducted for all the wildlife that call Topaz home. These efforts aim to provide valuable information to agencies and assist in the sustainability of the kit fox and other species.
Protecting the Tiniest Creatures
You wouldn’t expect shrimp to call one of the world’s largest solar farms – 60 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean – their home. But it’s a fact that two species of fairy shrimp currently reside at California's Topaz Solar Farms: the longhorn fairy shrimp, which is considered an endangered species, and the vernal pool fairy shrimp. At BHE Renewables, we work with wildlife biologists to help the fairy shrimp thrive.
The fairy shrimp are only active at Topaz during certain times of the year and primarily live in vernal pools, a type of wetland that is covered with shallow waters by winter and spring rains but can be completely dry during the summer and fall seasons. Even when it is scorching hot and bone-dry, fairy shrimp have developed unique adaptations to survive when vernal pools disappear.
These eggs, also called cysts, have protective coverings that allow them to withstand extreme environments and even digestion by predators. These cysts remain in the dry pool bed until precipitation occurs again and water returns to the pools. This causes the cysts to hatch, which is why the fairy shrimp are only active during rainy seasons.
When the rain starts to fall at Topaz, fairy shrimp duty ensues, and newly discovered vernal pools are blocked off from construction activities and any facility disturbances.
See more reasons why Topaz Solar Farms is the crown jewel of our solar fleet:
