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Responsible land management
Hearst invests in sustainable agriculture on two Central California ranches: the Hearst Ranch in San Simeon and the Jack Ranch in Cholame. Hearst Ranches is committed to stewardship that will have long-term positive effects on its commercial viability, as well as being a leader in the production of green energy and on the well-being of its local communities.
Tesla Battery Project
Since 2021, the California Jack Ranch boasts over one million solar modules and a 60-megawatt battery storage system using 84 Tesla Megapack batteries on three acres. This system stores and dispatches electricity from the California Flats solar project when the state’s grid demands it most.
Over 1,000,000 solar modules on 2,900 acres on Jack Ranch in Cholame, CA
Quantifying Jack Ranch’s clean renewable energy:
• enough to serve 100,000 homes
• displaces over 109,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually
• The equivalent of taking 22,000 cars off the road
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Hearst Ranch Powered By 307kW Grid-Tied Solar System
• 98% of the Ranch’s electrical use is powered by the grid-tied solar system
• The solar system prevented over 221 tons of CO2e from being emitted annually (equivalent to
greenhouse gas emissions from 43.2 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driven for one year).
What is a grid-tied solar system?
A grid-tied solar system is connected to the public electricity grid, allowing the Ranch to pull both
solar power and power from the grid when needed.
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Drone Spraying to Control Non-Native Invasive Plant Species
• As part of their commitment to sustainable land management, Hearst Ranch replaced helicopter spraying with drones to reduce herbicide usage and fuel consumption.
• Uses vastly less fuel than helicopter spraying
• Targets individual plants at a lower altitude, meaning less herbicide is utilized and the risk of impacts
to other species or sensitive habitats is reduced.
Explore Hearst Ranches
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California Flats Solar Project
The California Flats solar system on the Jack Ranch boasts over 1 million solar modules and a 60-megawatt battery storage system using 84 Tesla Megapack batteries. This battery system stores and dispatches renewable electricity from the California Flats solar system when the state’s grid demands it most.
Over 1 million solar modules on 2,900 acres on Jack Ranch in Cholame, California
Quantifying Jack Ranch’s clean, renewable energy:
Enough to serve 100,000 homes
Displaces over 109,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually
The equivalent of taking 22,000 cars off the road
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Jack Ranch Powered by 307kW Grid-Tied Solar System
98% of the Ranch’s agricultural pumping electrical demand is met by this grid-tied solar system.
The solar system prevented over 221 tons of CO2e from being emitted annually (equivalent to greenhouse gas emissions from 43.2 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driven for one year).
What is a grid-tied solar system? A grid-tied solar system is connected to the public electricity grid, allowing the Ranch to pull both solar power and power from the grid when needed.
Drone Spraying to Control Non-Native Invasive Plant Species
As part of its commitment to sustainable land management, Hearst Ranches replaced helicopter spraying with drones to reduce herbicide usage and fuel consumption.
Uses vastly less fuel than helicopter spraying
Targets individual plants at a lower altitude, meaning less herbicide is utilized and the risk of impacts to other species or sensitive habitats is reduced.
Uses vastly less fuel than helicopter spraying.
Targets individual plants at a lower altitude, meaning less herbicide is utilized and the risk of impacts to other species or sensitive habitats is reduced.