Solar

A new charge? Renewable Properties evolving into “firm specializing in DERs”

A new charge? Renewable Properties evolving into “firm specializing in DERs”
(Electric truck batteries are charged from the charging station. Concept image courtesy UnThink Solar/Renewable Properties)

Two masked men sit on opposite ends of a table. This meeting- a final test- has been a long time coming.

“This looks like a real office,” notices one. “And real people work here.”

Such matters can’t be taken for granted. Not with $30 million at stake.

After some pleasantries, the two shake hands- or more likely bump fists. The deal is done.

Securing financing during the height of the pandemic is not for the faint of heart.

“They knew I was a real person via Zoom,” laughs Aaron Halimi, founder and president of Renewable Properties. “But they wanted to make sure that I had a real company.”

Renewable Properties turns seven years old at the end of March. It’s a very real company that has been through a few rounds of funding, but none quite compared to the one in the fall of 2020.

Halimi, one of the characters in the above vignette, managed to raise $30 million at a time when most of us were hosing down our grocery deliveries with Febreze. The money came from CarVal Investors, which has since expanded its capital commitment to $80 million.

By the end of 2019, Halimi knew Renewable Properties was growing to the point of needing some more cash. He conducted an initial pitch meeting with CarVal from his house in San Francisco via Zoom. It went well, but before closing a deal, the investor wanted to carry out its due diligence and lock eyes with Aaron. Not on camera. Live and in person.

“That was in the dead of COVID,” recalls Halimi. “We went to our office in downtown San Francisco that we still had at the time.”

Just Halimi and one representative from CarVal. A “prove it or lose it” moment for Renewable Properties; and one that came at the perfect time.

Shortly after that fateful meeting, their sublease rolled and Halimi was able to avoid paying ghastly San Francisco rent while the world was shut down. But if his company was working from home any sooner? Maybe you’re not reading this story.

An artistic rendering of a Renewable Properties EV charging site (courtesy: Renewable Properties)

A new variety of renewable property

Renewable Properties is best known for developing small-scale utility and community solar projects in California and across the United States. At last check, they’ve got around 40 projects and 155 MW.

But there’s a new tab on the company website, and that sort of thing doesn’t just happen in corporate America. It reads “EV Fleet Charging,” and marks Renewable Properties’ entry into the medium and heavy-duty fleet charging space.

California’s Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) Regulation went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024. It prescribes a transition from combustion to EV fleets, requiring any fleet operator with revenue greater than $50 million, or that controls more than 50 trucks, to begin electrifying their vehicles right now.

Those are Renewable Properties’ new potential customers- think big retail brands with warehouse and distribution centers, public entities like municipalities, governments, and educational institutions, and owners of drayage truck fleets that transport cargo to and from California’s seaports and rail yards.

Halimi’s goal is to develop EV charging depots in select locations that provide charging as a turnkey service, saving fleet managers the hassle of having to build out (and take care of) charging infrastructure. Each will be custom-tailored to meet the needs of those who sign up, including Level 2 and Level 3 chargers, gated yards, dedicated parking spots, and reserved electrical capacity. Depot subscribers will only be charged for power used, like a solar PPA, rather than having to pay upfront.

GO DEEPER: Renewable Properties founder and president Aaron Halimi joined Episode 33 of the Factor This! podcast to discuss the future of community solar in California which, to date, has lagged behind other markets, despite the state’s role as a leader of the energy transition. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Renewable Properties bought its first piece of land in this endeavor a few months ago in Vacaville, about an hour outside of the Bay Area.

“We’ve since secured a handful of other sites that we’re working through our diligence on right now,” reveals Halimi. Renewable Properties has started accepting reservations for EV fleet charging in Richmond and Santa Maria; depot locations in Sacramento and Stockton are in the works.

“We have not been at it very long and seemed to have found our stride on the site acquisition side,” details Halimi, who thinks he can scale a pipeline quickly. “We’re kind of attacking it from multiple angles where we are reaching out to fleet owners that may have a need for this… We’re also selecting sites that are in offtake-dense locations.”

Halimi and his team are back in the office now. Not the same one where he had that investor meeting during COVID, but an office nonetheless. In a constantly changing industry, I guess having some brick-and-mortar proves you’re a real company, whatever that means. At the very least, you’ve got a place for your stuff.

Aaron is posted up next to a window with an incredible view- his thick, messy hair illuminated by the 100,000-year-old sunbeams refracting through the glass that separates him from a staggering skyline.

“I had a career playing on the field,” he opines. “And you know, I hung up my cleats a couple of years ago and have transitioned into more of a coaching role.”

“I’m still pretty involved in the business,” he adds. “But I am not engaged in the day-to-day combat of fighting climate change with my colleagues here.”

That “coach” is seeing the “field” more holistically now.

Aaron founded Renewable Properties as a solar development company that aims to “drive energy forward for local communities.” As RP expands into EV fleet charging, I asked the old ballplayer if his modus operandi had changed. He says the mission is still the same, but he’s evolving with the landscape.

“The way in which we’re driving energy forward for these communities is not just solar anymore,” he explains. “It encompasses energy storage, it encompasses solar plus storage, and it now encompasses EV infrastructure. So I’d like to think of our company as a development firm that specializes in distributed energy resources.”

“There’s still a lot of wood to chop,” Halimi adds. “There’s a lot of work ahead, but we’re still pretty excited about it.”