Renewables

Wisconsin Municipal Utility commissions 8-MW Solar project to supply city, school district

April 6, 2022

The supplied energy will increase renewable energy usage in city operations by nearly 20% and in the Madison Metropolitan School District by approximately 16%

EnergyTech Staff

Madison G E O Brien Solar Fields 624daff6beb0d

Madison Gas and Electric is generating zero-carbon electricity from its 8-MW Hermsdorf Solar Fields inside the Wisconsin city.

Hermsdork is connected to MGE’s distribution grid. It will power the Madison Metropolitan School District under Renewable Energy Rider (RER) agreements with MGE.

The city will receive 5 MW of the output and the Madison Metropolitan School District will receive 3 MW. Their RER agreements are approved by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.

RER customers will be responsible for the renewable generation facility-related costs and distribution costs.

The supplied energy will increase renewable energy usage in city operations by nearly 20% and in the Madison Metropolitan School District by approximately 16%.

The project, developed by NextEra Energy Resources Development, is located on more than 50 acres of land and comprises almost 30,000 bifacial solar panels.

Maine town subscribing to Community Solar options

Subscribe to EnergyTech's free, tri-weekly newsletter for more Insights into the C&I Energy Transition

The Hermsdorf site is leased to MGE. The utility intends to add pollinator plantings in certain areas of the site to improve monarch and honeybee populations.

MGE Chairman, President and CEO Jeff Keebler said the firm is continuing its movement towards net-zero carbon electricity by 2050 with this new project. It has continued its transition to clean energy sources with the addition of nearly 400 MW of wind, solar and battery storage between 2015 and 2024. By 2030, MGE aims to reduce carbon emissions by 80%.

About the Author

EnergyTech Staff

Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

He can be reached at [email protected].

EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.