New solar generating site in MiEnergy’s service territory
A utility-scale solar generation site is now online and producing renewable energy in MiEnergy Cooperative’s service territory.
The Madison Solar Site is a 1.5-megawatt solar energy array owned and operated by ENGIE North America. Dairyland Power Cooperative, MiEnergy’s wholesale power provider, has a power purchase agreement with ENGIE for the full output of the facility. ENGIE installed, owns, operates, and maintains the facility.
“As a local energy cooperative, we are pleased to support the development of local renewable energy, solar energy as an important part of a sustainable future and it’s exciting to celebrate commercial operation of a facility here in the Decorah community,” stated Brian Krambeer, MiEnergy president and CEO.
Madison Solar covers roughly 11 acres and is projected to produce enough energy to power approximately 240 homes per year. The solar installation is engineered with a tracking system that follows the path of the sun to increase energy production. Beneficial bee and butterfly habitat are also being developed at the Madison solar site. ENGIE is using native seed mixes of grasses and flowers to create a certified pollinator garden.
Madison Solar is one of 18 cooperative solar sites in the region
Madison Solar is the final site to come online of 18 solar installations Dairyland has under contract for the benefit of MiEnergy and 23 other member cooperatives within Dairyland’s service territory in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. Together, Madison Solar and the 17 other sites yield 25 MW of solar energy, producing enough renewable energy to power nearly 4,000 homes.
- About MiEnergy: MiEnergy Cooperative is a member-owned electric distribution cooperative and is the result of a merger between Hawkeye REC, of Cresco, Iowa, and Tri-County Electric Cooperative, of Rushford, Minn. in 2017. It maintains 5,500 miles of power lines covering most of Fillmore, Houston, and Winona counties in Minnesota and Chickasaw, Howard, and Winneshiek counties in Iowa. The cooperative also serves small pockets bordering those counties. It provides electricity to more than 18,700 members in northeastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota. MiEnergy is a Touchstone Energy Cooperative.
- About ENGIE: ENGIE North America Inc.’s Distributed Solar group (formerly SoCore Energy) is a market leader in commercial, industrial, and distributed solar and storage portfolio development based in Chicago, Ill.
- About Dairyland Power Cooperative: Headquartered in La Crosse, Wis., Dairyland provides the wholesale electrical requirements for 24 distribution cooperatives and 17 municipal utilities. These cooperatives and municipals, in turn, supply the energy needs of more than a half-million people in the four-state service area. For more information, visit www.DairylandPower.com.