CARSON—The Building Trades are making their mark on Carson. The diverse city of 92,000, located in the South Bay, will host a new battery storage plant, and on April 10, welcomed a new hall for Boilermakers Local 92.
On Alameda Street just north of E. Sepulveda Blvd., the Avocet battery storage facility will start construction in the first quarter of 2025.
It is part of the nine-project Falcon Energy Storage system, which will be built under a Project Labor Agreement with the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California.
The projects, sited throughout California, will be able to store and transmit about 2,000 megawatts of power, with Carson coming in at 200 MW, or 800 megawatt hours.
“Energy storage systems such as our Avocet Energy Storage facility reduce air pollution and contribute to grid reliability,” said Tommy Greer, executive vice president & chief commercial officer at project owner Arevon, a leading renewable energy developer, owner and operator. “As with all of our projects, we are invested in the local area and are committed to both the economic and social well-being of the community.”
Battery storage is increasing in importance as California turns to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. For several hours each day, when winds are not lively or the sun is not shining, those sources can’t generate energy. But the power that they create when they’re active can be stored in efficient battery facilities, and then discharged as needed.
Avocet will be able to power 45,000 homes for up to four hours.
Ernesto Medrano, Executive Secretary of the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, said the Falcon PLA is an example of the Building Trades’ strong connection to the diverse future of energy in California.
“We represent the local workforce that keeps oil and gas refineries running and safe, and we also bring our high standards to new sources such as wind, green hydrogen and battery storage,” Medrano said.
Carson Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes praised Arevon for locating in the city, where many Building Trades members live.
The total investment to build the facility is estimated at more than $350 million.
“Arevon’s Avocet Energy Storage Project aligns with my Innovation and Clean Energy Hub Initiative and illustrates our commitment to new and innovative clean energy solutions,” the Mayor said.
Nearby, on E. Dominguez St., Boilermakers Local 92 cut a blue ribbon to open its new hall.
Business Manager Luis Miramontes, a native of Carson himself, said the new hall is due in part to growth—and that has come from state laws like SB 54, promoted by the Building Trades, to increase the use of a skilled and trained workforce in nearby refineries.
“The Boilermakers gave me a chance in life,” said Miramontes, who grew up in a family of truck drivers. He compared himself to other newcomers who want a better future. “Sometimes they don’t know about union Trades, or even what a Boilermaker is. So we open the doors to them.”
On the 10th, the doors opened to hundreds of guests. Many were Local 92 members who will make this hall their home base.
Carson Mayor Pro Tem Jawane Hilton presented Miramontes with a recognition certificate. Councilman Jim Dear said, “Carson is a union city. Carson will remain pro-union, 100 percent.”
Chris Hannan, California State Building Trades Council President, noted that Carson was one of the first cities to have a citywide Project Labor Agreement. Now, an expanding energy industry is increasing this union density. “We’re on the doorstep of an incredible amount of union industrial work,” he said. Hannan added that recently passed state law SB 740 is the perfect companion to SB 54. The Boilermakers strongly support the new law, which extends SB 54 workforce training and safety standards to sites such as hydrogen, biofuels and chemical manufacturing.
“This is a very exciting day,” said Ernesto Medrano, Executive Secretary of the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council. “We intend to get even more work here in Carson.”
With that commitment, Miramontes said, Boilermakers Local 92 will build a new apprenticeship center, also in Carson. “Our unions are bringing more Project Labor Agreements and more union work.”
