Today, Congresswoman Lois Capps, who represents California’s 24th congressional district, will visit Central Coast Distributing and Larrabee Brothers Recycling facilities to discuss green technologies and industry issues related to beer wholesalers and family-owned businesses.
In addition to touring one of Santa Maria’s oldest recycling centers, Capps will speak at 4 p.m. with officials from the beer distribution industry, as well as national solar company REC Solar and California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), to discuss Central Coast Distributing/Larrabee Brothers Recycling’s 249 kilowatt, 1,100-panel solar electric system.
Capps will be joined by Michael Larrabee, president and CEO of Central Coast Distributing, Shannon Larrabee, director of government and industry relations of Central Coast Distributing, Ryan Work, business development manager of REC Solar, and John Shoals, senior government relations representative at PG&E, in a roundtable discussion.
Along with being named the 35th Assembly District “2013 Small Business of the Year” for its commitment to innovation, the community and the environment, the Santa Maria-based beer distributorship and recycling center also has the largest commercial solar system in the city.
Each year, the company processes more than 2.2 million pounds or recyclable material, which made it an ideal candidate for going solar.
In 2011, REC Solar installed two separate rooftop solar systems – utilizing REC Peak Energy Series panels, SMA inverters and a SnapNrack rooftop racking system – to help offset an estimated 100 percent of the center’s energy consumption.