Rural Electric Coop | Pollinator Habitat | Midwest

Blue Prairie Solar

Location: Black River Falls, Wisconsin

Size: 3.1MWp

The Blue Prairie solar project is part of an 8-project venture located in western Wisconsin and southeast Minnesota called the Mastodon Portfolio.

Working closely with three rural electric cooperatives and nine landowner hosts, OneEnergy developed the solar farms with the dual purpose of boosting rural economies while also producing reliable energy for the communities in which they are located. The Mastodon Portfolio will not only produce affordable, reliable clean energy for several decades, but also bring a $30 Million investment to the rural communities in which these projects are located.

The electricity generated by the Blue Prairie Solar is being purchased by Jackson Electric Cooperative. Jackson Electric is a nonprofit cooperative utility which aims to provide members with the best services at the lowest possible cost. The Blue Prairie Solar facility helps achieve financial savings on both energy supply and transmission expenses because the solar electricity is generated locally and does not need to be imported from a central station power plant. These savings will be passed onto the cooperative's members. The available Renewable Energy Credits are being sold separately to visionary buyers committed to ensuring their renewable energy procurement dollars are devoted to new projects that serve local communities.

OneEnergy designed this project to integrate seamlessly into the agricultural setting in which it is located. The project is planted to a pasture mix underneath these tracking solar arrays, which will be grazed by sheep to further reduce the environmental impacts of this site and keep the land in agricultural production over its 35 year lifecycle.

The Blue Prairie Solar project is a 3.1 Megawatt peak (2.5MWac) rated solar photovoltaic project located near Black River Falls, Jackson County, Wisconsin.

“We have created a nice relationship with OneEnergy. We couldn’t ask for a better partner on the Blue Prairie Solar Project. This is our first renewable energy project of this size, and OneEnergy walked us through the process and were always available to answer any of our questions. They were always very courteous to our community members and helpful in answering the members’ questions. In essence, they followed through on their commitments and delivered a high-performing solar facility that will help to serve our members with reliable, renewable electricity generated in our backyard.”

– Kevin Babcock, Jackson Electric Cooperative 

 

 

Blue Prarie Solar Case Study

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