Eau Claire Energy Cooperative plans to install about 3,000 solar panels on 5 acres of unused land behind the utility’s offices at 8214 U.S. 12, just east of Altoona.
“This fall we’ll have it operational,” said Lynn Thompson, president and CEO of the co-op.
There still are numerous steps before then, including choosing a solar contractor to build the array, approval from county government officials, readying the site for the project and signing agreements with customers to pay for the panels.
But the co-op is pushing forward with the project that gained unanimous approval late last year from its board and support from a survey of co-op members.
The rural energy cooperative surveyed its customers about a year ago about solar options. Of those who responded, 78 percent said it was important to pursue energy from environmentally safe sources. However, about half said they would not pay additional costs for green energy.
With those survey results in mind, the solar farm has been designed to meet both the aim to provide clean energy and potentially save participants money in the long run.
Exact figures will still depend on different technologies that solar contractors offer to the co-op in their bid packages, but Thompson had some general price ranges showing how the program would work.
Each panel is expected to cost $650 to $725. Customers interested in solar power would pay that cost upfront and get a 20-year lease for a panel, which would give them credits on their monthly bill.
“Over 20 years, if the price of electricity would increase, the value of that credit would go up,” Thompson said. And if trends from the past two decades are any indication, he noted that energy prices will continue to climb.
Based on the perceived demand, he said, customers likely will sign leases for all the panels. But if any go unsold, Thompson said, the co-op itself would buy them for producing electricity to supply to its entire customer base.
The entire project is expected to cost about $2 million, Thompson said. The upfront investment in solar panels is expected to pay for itself through the energy it produces in 15 to 20 years, he said.
The field the solar panels will be installed upon has been farmed, but its sandy soils are not considered prime agricultural land.
Xcel Energy, the largest utility in the area, has its own green energy initiatives but currently has no plans to build a local solar array. However, company spokeswoman Liz Wolf Green said the topic is an item of discussion by Xcel officials.
“We continue to look into those solar choices,” she said.
Xcel offers customers an option to buy clean energy credits for electricity produced by the company’s large network of windmills. The WindSource program costs $1.33 per 100 kilowatt-hour block more than the standard price of electricity. A typical homeowner would need to buy about seven of those blocks to power a home entirely through wind power, Wolf Green said.
©2015 the Leader-Telegram (Eau Claire, Wis.)
