NextNRG Starts Pre-Construction on 724 kW Solar and 1 MWh Storage Microgrids at Two California Nursing Homes

Healthcare Facilities Microgrids News
Marin Holt
July 14, 2026
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Rooftop solar (combined): 724 kW
Battery storage (combined): 1 MWh
Power purchase agreement term: 28 years
AB 2511 backup-power mandate: 96 hours

NextNRG has started pre-construction on two solar-and-battery microgrids at California skilled-nursing facilities, the Fort Lauderdale energy developer said on July 7, 2026. The projects, at Sunnyside Nursing Center in Torrance and Topanga Terrace in Canoga Park, will pair a combined 724 kW of rooftop solar with 1 MWh of battery storage under 28-year power purchase agreements that make NextNRG the owner and operator of the on-site systems.

The step turns two long-term customer contracts into physical infrastructure. Under the agreements, each nursing home buys power generated on its own roof rather than paying NextNRG for the equipment, and the developer keeps the solar arrays and batteries on its balance sheet across the full 28 years.

Backup power is now a legal requirement

California Assembly Bill 2511 requires skilled-nursing facilities to hold at least 96 hours of backup power for use during a grid outage. Diesel generators meet that rule today, but they burn fuel, need refueling during multi-day events, and face air-permit limits in the Los Angeles basin. A solar-plus-battery microgrid gives a nursing home a backup source that recharges itself each day and keeps critical loads, refrigerated medications, oxygen concentrators, elevators, running when Southern California Edison or the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power drops offline.

Cost is the second driver. NextNRG says demand charges account for 30 to 70 percent of a monthly electric bill for SCE and LADWP commercial customers. A battery that discharges during peak-price windows trims those charges, and the 28-year contract structure lets a care operator lock an energy rate without spending capital on the hardware.

Why It Matters

Senior-care operators facing AB 2511 compliance should read the NextNRG contracts as a template: a third party finances, owns, and operates the microgrid while the facility signs a multi-decade offtake and avoids the upfront cost of a resilient power system. The global healthcare-microgrid market is forecast to grow from $3.45 billion in 2024 to $10.16 billion in 2033, and mandates like California’s, plus a comparable Florida rule for long-term care, are what turn that forecast into signed projects. The open question is delivery: NextNRG has not set a construction-start or completion date for either site, so the 724 kW and 1 MWh figures remain a contracted target rather than an operating asset.

Critical Perspective

NextNRG is pairing 724 kW of rooftop solar with just 1 MWh of battery storage at two nursing homes that, under California’s AB 2511, must sustain 96 hours of backup power for medically fragile residents. One megawatt-hour is only a few hours of load for a full facility, and even a resilience-focused operator like Kaiser Permanente has leaned on far larger storage plus on-site generation to ride through multi-day outages. During California’s 2019 Public Safety Power Shutoffs, several skilled-nursing facilities lost grid power and evacuated residents, the exact failure the 96-hour rule was written to prevent. Over a 28-year contract, what happens on the first day a wildfire shutoff outlasts a 1 MWh battery and the winter sun cannot refill it?