Alliant Energy has launched a 1-megawatt community solar project in Wisconsin, that would be built during the next year near Fond du Lac. Customers of Wisconsin’s second-largest utility will be able to invest in solar energy without buying or installing any panels.
The purchases start at $1,500 per kilowatt, available in 250-watt blocks for 100% of annual use; then customers would get bill credits of 6,3 cents per kilowatt-hour, which will be fed into the grid. Commercial customers got a 5,3 cents per kilowatt-hour credit.
Annually this would enable earnings of about $108 in bill credits; the whole investment would return in about 14 years, with a possible $650 profit during the 20-year life of the project. To power a typical full house, it would be needed an investment of about $7,500, according to state’s local media.
According to the company, the project is aligned with its energy transition efforts. “we are accelerating our sustainability goals to include eliminating all coal from our generation fleet by 2040 and aspiring to achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity we generate by 2050. The Alliant Energy Community Solar program is another way we keep our customers at the heart of everything we do,” the company says in a statement.
Recommended to you: Texas with a booming solar-energy projects trend
More community solar from Alliant Energy
The community project is expected to begin construction during the first months of 2021, and to be fully operational by the end of next year. The location will be along the 151 highway, west of Hickory Road.
This will not be the only solar community project form Alliant, as it is developing similar ones across Wisconsin and Iowa, where it serves more than 475,000 and 492,000 customers respectively. Regulators from Wisconsin have already approved the construction of six more megawatts.
According to state’s Public Service Commission, Wisconsin will have up to 8,3 megawatts of community solar projects in 2021; 85% of which are subscribed. A low number in comparison with the 822 megawatts of Minnesota, as reported by the Wisconsin state Journal.
