Case Study: CSU Dominguez Hills achieves $70K annual savings, emissions reductions and peak‑load relief with Stem's energy storage

Energy Storage Delivers Cost Savings and Sustainability to Campus

CSU Dominguez Hills, a 15,000‑student university committed to sustainability, needed to reduce energy costs and shift building systems from natural gas to electricity while participating in demand response programs. To meet these goals the campus partnered with Stem to deploy a Solar Plus Storage solution — a 1 MW / 4.2 MWh battery paired with 1.5 MW of solar and Stem’s Athena energy storage platform — to provide intelligent, automated grid support and utility bill optimization.

Stem’s batteries and Athena platform autonomously shave campus demand, enable the campus to serve as a Virtual Power Plant (providing roughly 400 kW during DR events and up to about 1,400 kW when combined with other measures), and continuously optimize performance via forecasting and split‑second control. Since commercial operation in December 2017, the system has improved reliability, reduced greenhouse gas footprint, and delivered about $70K in annual savings, with dashboards that let CSU Dominguez Hills demonstrate outcomes to campus stakeholders.

CSU Dominguez Hills

Kenny Seaton

Energy Manager