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SunEdison has signed an agreement with Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota to offset 100% of the college's electricity use with solar energy. Macalester College will save millions of dollars on electricity costs over the 25 year agreement by purchasing a share of output from SunEdison's community solar gardens.
The SunEdison community solar gardens program enables customers to receive a share of electricity output from a locally sited community solar system. Each month, the customer receives credits on their electricity bill – up to 120% of their electricity usage. At the end of the year, the customer will receive payment from the utility for any excess credits which have not been used.
"We're excited to be working with Macalester College, one of the first colleges to participate in SunEdison's community solar gardens program," said Sam Youneszadeh, Managing Director of Distributed Generation Western USA at SunEdison. "Our solar garden program allows customers to enjoy the benefits of solar even when they are unable to install solar systems on their property. We expect to see more schools, colleges, and universities follow Macalester College's lead and take advantage of the solar gardens program in the near future."
"Macalester has a long history of commitment to environmental and energy initiatives. This agreement furthers our campus sustainability goals and is a financially responsible initiative for Macalester,” said Macalester College Vice President for Finance and Administration David Wheaton.
SunEdison plans to begin construction of the community solar gardens in 2015 and begin commercial operation in 2016. This project is on the Call Right Projects List for TerraForm Power. SunEdison anticipates offering this project to TerraForm Power for investment upon completion. Operation and maintenance of the solar power plants will be performed by SunEdison Services, which provides global 24/7 asset management, monitoring and reporting services.
(Photo Credit: Macalester College)