Taylor Farms has plans to ‘go green’ on Central Coast

Taylor Farms is going green.

“This is our most recent solar project for Taylor Farms. It’s a one megawatt solar installation on our roof top in Gonzales,” said Taylor Farms Director of Sustainability Nicole Flewell.

The 3,200 panels will offset about 10 percent of their total energy usage, that’s equivalent to taking carbon emissions from 270 cars off the road each year.

“It’s a very reliable source of power for us. It powers our forklifts, process lines, everything that we do here on site,” said Flewell.

The company said 1,100 workers are employed at the Gonzales plant alone and 5,000 around the Central Coast.

“It makes just good business sense for us, and it’s the right thing to do. This is our second solar installation in Monterey County and we’re going green across the country,” said Flewell.

Taylor Farms said it also uses the wind as a renewable energy source.

“That offsets our power usage about 15-20 percent. Which is a huge number for us,” said Flewell.

In December, Taylor Farms hopes to roll out its first ever co-generation plant, which would more than double their use of clean energy.