Every fiscal year, the RENEW Wisconsin Board of Directors starts things off with a vote to determine who among them will take on the additional responsibility of leading the board. Last week, the Board of Directors held its first meeting of the year, where, among other things, members voted on its leadership team for the 2026-27 fiscal year, selecting the following members for officer positions: Isaiah Ness (President), Mackenzie Mindel (Vice President), Eric Callisto (Treasurer), and Matt Dannenberg (Secretary).
Thank you to our outgoing officers, Josh Arnold (President) and Josh Stolzenburg (Treasurer). Josh Arnold continues to serve on the RENEW Board as an at-large member, while Josh Stolzenburg steps down from the board after two terms and remains engaged with RENEW as an Individual member. We can’t thank them enough for all the time, effort, and knowledge they have shared with us over the years.
Our officers play a vital role in guiding the organization, and our volunteer board members dedicate their personal time to help RENEW succeed. The expertise and passion of our board members, especially our officers, are a big part of how we are able to pursue our mission so effectively.
This August, the RENEW Wisconsin board of directors voted to fill two vacant mid-term seats. Joining our board are Barrett Lione-Seaton, Business Development Lead and Partner at Midwest Solar Power, and Matt Dannenberg, Head of Partnerships at Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy. Each of them brings their own unique background and perspectives to the board, helping to make sure RENEW Wisconsin is guided by a diverse group of professionals invested in our mission.
With our vacant seats filled, we will not have full elections this year. In 2027, we will return to our regular voting schedule and have competitive elections for all RENEW members to participate in.
Meet Our Newly Appointed Board Members
Barrett Lione-Seaton
Barrett brings a uniquely broad perspective to the renewable industry shaped by a geology degree, careers in craft brewing and food manufacturing, and life experience across six countries. He first connected with solar in 2020 through a non-profit he helps lead, driven by a passion for energy access and environmental impact. That work led him to join Midwest Solar Power in 2022, where he now applies his background in systems thinking, finance, and construction to help the company grow while staying true to its commitment to employees, community, and customers.
Matt Dannenberg
Matt Dannenberg is a proud citizen of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. He most recently served as Head of Tribal Engagement here at the Alliance, where he led relationship-building efforts with Tribal Nations and partners to advance Tribal energy sovereignty. He now serves as Head of Partnerships, stewarding the Alliance’s external collaborations and strengthening national coalitions that support self-determined clean energy development in Tribal communities.
Matt’s career began with a passion for meteorology, which evolved into a commitment to climate advocacy, community organizing, and public service. He spent eight years at Wisconsin Conservation Voters, where he launched the Wisconsin Native Vote campaign — an initiative that continues to mobilize Indigenous citizens across Wisconsin to vote and advocate for the protection of their natural resources.
In 2020, Matt joined the Biden campaign and was subsequently appointed to serve in the Biden–Harris Administration. He began in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, then served at the U.S. Department of Energy as Deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). He concluded his federal service as Senior Tribal Liaison in the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs, strengthening government-to-government relationships with Tribal Nations.
Matt and his spouse, Emma, are the proud parents of a young son and daughter, who inspire his continued commitment to building a more sustainable and equitable future.
Third-party solar, also known as third-party ownership, legislation is lagging behind in Wisconsin, and it is impacting Wisconsinites’ ability to afford a clean and reliable energy future.
The term “third-party solar” generally refers to solar installations that are financed through one of two non-traditional means. Under the first method, a solar installer covers the upfront costs of an installation on a customer’s property. The customer can begin using the clean energy right away, and they pay for the use of the equipment over time through a lease agreement. Under this model, they are “leasing” the solar equipment, allowing them to install solar while spreading out the upfront cost over time. By removing the hurdle of shouldering the entire cost upfront, solar becomes more accessible to the many ordinary energy consumers who want to invest in renewable energy.
The second method is a power purchase agreement (PPA), which is a financing arrangement where someone agrees to host the solar system on their property while the third-party provider continues to own, operate, and maintain the system. The customer buys the electricity produced by the system from the installer, and the installer benefits from tax credits. Together, the electricity sales and the tax-credit savings create a profit margin for the installer, and the customer has the opportunity to purchase clean electricity generated on-site without upfront installation costs.
Despite the opportunities both of these models present for people to expand renewable energy development and increase access to clean energy, the legal status of these options is in somewhat of a grey area, with different parties having opposing understandings of what is and is not allowed under Wisconsin law.
Wisconsin, like many other states, uses a public utilities system that functions as a regulated monopoly. Utility companies in Wisconsin are granted a monopoly over a specified territory and are regulated by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) in exchange. The goal of this structure is to protect people from bearing the cost of duplicative infrastructure while using regulation to ensure minimum service standards and reliability. However, as created through the Wisconsin Statutes, the current system of regulation does not leave a clear pathway for third-party solar development.
The main issue is the lack of clarification on whether third-party solar providers are “public utilities,” as defined in Wis. Stat. § 196.01(5)(a). Under the status quo, third-party solar owners apply for interconnection with an electric utility, and the utility may reject the application and designate the third-party solar projects as public utilities, in which case the customer cannot interconnect their system without an appeal to the PSC. Entities that qualify as public utilities may not operate without PSC regulation or without meeting all the requirements necessary to operate as a public utility in Wisconsin. Multiple third-party solar providers have petitioned the PSC for a declaratory ruling stating that the providers do not meet the statutory definition of a public utility; however, the PSC has avoided issuing such rulings. PSC regulation, with a system-by-system review, is not an option for third-party solar solutions because it eliminates projects’ economic feasibility due to the length and expense of PSC proceedings. Legislation is needed to clarify that third-party solar providers are not public utilities and need not be subject to the PSC’s regulation.
Surrounding states have taken this step, including Illinois and Minnesota. I have seen the benefits of this first-hand; my undergraduate institution in Illinois was able to pursue and install solar arrays on-site through a PPA when they would not have otherwise been able to justify the upfront cost of a solar installation. I was personally involved in a project to expand the on-campus renewable infrastructure to include battery storage, providing the school revenue for the grid-stabilization services that batteries provide. This is only one of countless examples of the real-life benefits provided by third-party solar arrangements – benefits that Wisconsinites are missing out on due to a lack of clarification from the legislature and the PSC.
No matter how many people wish for a cleaner and more affordable energy future, the legal hurdles to renewable development have to be removed for change to become economically feasible. Wisconsin’s regulation of third-party solar needs to catch up to the present day in order to make this future possible.
Anna Shoup was one of RENEW’s 2026 summer law clerks. She graduated from Olivet Nazarene University with degrees in Environmental Science and Philosophy. Anna is currently a rising 2L at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School, pursuing environmental or energy law. It is her hope to work for an environmental non-profit or government agency after graduation, and to use her career to help create a more renewable future.
Update: The comment period for the draft EIS has closed
A draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) created by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) staff regarding the Columbia Wind energy project is out for public comment. The EIS analyzes the social, cultural, and environmental impacts that could result from the Columbia Wind Project. The EIS should include the positive benefits the project would bring. However, the current draft EIS stops short of actually estimating Columbia Wind’s positive environmental benefits, such as the public health benefits of emission reductions.
RENEW Wisconsin is submitting comments asking the PSC to make sure that both estimates of avoided emissions and climate change impacts are included in the final version of the EIS. The positive impacts of reduced air pollution from projects like Columbia Wind are necessary for helping the general public understand why clean energy projects like Columbia Wind are so important. Join us in telling the PSC that reduced climate impacts and greenhouse gas emissions are necessary for a complete EIS.
Personalized comments are more effective, please take the time to make your message to the PSC unique. Comments on the EIS are due on August 28 and are for regulatory staff, but EIS comments are not officially part of the Commission record. There will be an opportunity to submit official comments in support of Columbia Wind this fall.
Sample Comment:
The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), prepared by the DNR and PSC for Columbia Wind, needs to include information about the emissions that will be avoided thanks to this project. By reducing the amount of emissions we put into the air, we reduce health issues caused by fossil fuels and avoid causing greater damage to our climate. The EIS is not complete without these necessary details.
When a utility-scale solar project is proposed — often in a rural, agricultural setting — nearby residents often have real concerns. Renewable developers often prefer farmland because it offers large, open, and flat pieces of land suitable for solar projects.
It’s true that the development of a large-scale solar facility brings changes, including a period of construction and the introduction of photovoltaic (PV) panels to the agricultural landscape, which reduces the amount of usable cropland.
At the same time, solar projects also offer a wide range of community benefits, including construction jobs and economic development, tax and financial aid from project developers, and steady, long-term lease payments to local landowners — enabling them to keep their land in the family and weather periods of financial stress.
That last point is particularly important, and it was recently highlighted by leaders in New York, who wrote a letter to the Trump Administration in response to its inaccurate claims that solar power was eating up vast amounts of farmland.
Citing largely inflated or misinformed concerns over the loss of agricultural land, the USDA has backed away from helping farmers develop solar on their farmland.
That is unfortunate news, and it’s important to note the fact that across the country, just .07 percent of farmland hosts solar projects. Building a cleaner, healthier, and more affordable renewable energy future will require more solar projects, plain and simple.
Another important statistic: to meet the Department of Energy’s ambitious goal of supplying 40 to 45 percent of U.S. electricity with solar by 2050, solar would require just 1.15 percent of America’s nearly 900 million acres of farmland. Growing corn for ethanol requires more than 4 percent of U.S. farmland, and is far less energy efficient than solar.
Countering Misinformation
Unfortunately, there’s a slew of online misinformation highlighting exaggerated and false narratives about wind and solar projects, making it difficult to have productive discourse around renewables. It is important for renewable energy advocates to counter these narratives with the facts, while recognizing and addressing legitimate community concerns.
First, no one is forced to lease their land for solar development. Private landowners, oftentimes farmers, make these decisions when they consider the economic security that solar projects can offer. These solar contracts typically last around 20 or 30 years — the life of the panels.
When the leases are up, landowners can choose to re-up their contract or to decommission the project and return the land to farming, removing the solar panels and the related infrastructure, which are often recycled for their valuable components. Allowing the land to “rest” without growing crops can restore the soil’s health, making it more productive when farming resumes.
Additional provisions about decommissioning the project can be put into solar leases or joint development agreements (JDAs, essentially voluntary contracts that communities and developers can enter that contain additional project terms).
Fostering Economic Resilience
For many farmers, the decision to lease land to solar developers boils down to dollars and cents. The regular payments that solar leases offer are welcome at a time when farmers are under heavy financial stress, as rising prices for fuel and other agricultural inputs combine with falling crop prices. Over the last two years, profit margins for American corn and soybeans have been in the red.
Increasingly extreme and unpredictable weather driven by climate change, combined with unpredictable tariffs, has made farming financially volatile. This can put family farms at risk of losing land they have held for generations.
Solar and wind leases can offer sorely needed financial relief and stability in a time of increasing uncertainty.
A study of landowners in New York State found that three times as many farmers intend to use large-scale solar leases to continue farming rather than exit the profession. The idea that solar panels always completely displace farming is also inaccurate. Some farmers continue to farm the land around the solar panels, grazing animals like goats and sheep.
Other projects and farms practicing agrivoltaics demonstrate the feasibility of growing crops like hay, soybeans, and alfalfa, as well as tomatoes, amidst solar panels. While agrivoltaics are not currently the norm, the dual-use model of agriculture co-existing with solar development is likely to become more popular.
Some project developers also plant native wildflowers to stabilize and regenerate soils, reduce erosion, and attract pollinators. These provisions can also be written into a JDA.
And it’s not just the involved landowners who benefit: Wisconsin communities can also reap the rewards of utility aid payments. Instead of property taxes, large-scale renewable projects (over 50 megawatts, or MW) pay $5,000 per MW of power produced each year, which is then divided up between the towns or cities and the counties hosting the project.
A report from Clean Wisconsin highlighted that the average payment to local governments is nearly $180,000. That money comes with no strings attached, and usually significantly exceeds local property taxes. These annual payments can be used to maintain roads, invest in local fire departments, and even decrease taxes or cancel proposed tax hikes.
As mentioned above, communities commonly enter into JDAs with solar developers that can provide additional assurances about setbacks, construction, maintenance, environmental impacts, and decommissioning, providing peace of mind for communities.
Coexisting with Solar
Thankfully, we do not have to choose between protecting Wisconsin’s farming heritage and building the renewable energy we need for an affordable, healthy energy future, because solar projects offer a wide array of projects for farmers and their surrounding communities.
As advocates of renewable energy, RENEW Wisconsin is working to counter the misinformation and make sure that the renewable energy future is a win-win proposition, strengthening Wisconsin’s economy and protecting our state’s farming tradition while addressing the twin crises of energy affordability and climate change.
Brian Wagenaar, a Twin Cities native, is one of RENEW’s 2026 summer law clerks. He is currently a student at the University of Wisconsin Law School and starts his second year in the program this fall. Prior to his time at UW’s Law School, Brian earned his bachelor’s in environmental policy from UW-Green Bay.
Third-party solar, also known as Third-party ownership, takes two forms— a solar lease or a power purchase agreement. The lease option is similar to how you would lease a car, paying for the system’s use over time. The power purchase agreement would allow you to purchase the system’s energy from the installer at a rate lower than you would normally pay for energy. Both options for a more affordable pathway to solar exist but are caught in a legal gray area for Wisconsinites, but that doesn’t mean it’s never been allowed in the state.
Around 2020-2021, there were some Wisconsin utilities that allowed TPO. At this time, WE Energies notably blocked installations in Milwaukee that would have utilized TPO arrangements.
Requests for the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) to weigh in on legal clarity were unsuccessful until 2022. The PSC took up two “declaratory ruling” requests, ultimately approving a request to allow TPO on a case-by-case basis and rejecting a request to instead appoint criteria for TPO.
Utilities challenged the PSC ruling approving an instance of TPO on a case-by-case basis. The family involved in the ruling moved before there was resolution in a case that would have provided clarity on the matter. Without a customer for the solar system, the PSC ruling was invalid. It is possible that another person or organization could seek approval for a TPO solar system, but it hasn’t happened yet.
These days, utilities seem unified in their approach to block the TPO option in their territories. For the most part, electric utility cooperatives take a similar approach to TPO.
Though it’s our position that TPO could be allowed under current law, there are conflicting interpretations of the law resulting in legal uncertainty. The disagreement comes from the state statute that says only utilities are able to sell power to the public. With TPO, it has long been our view that a customer involved in a TPO contract is not the general public and that this would be a business transaction rather than a utility transaction.
We also recognize that all Wisconsin utilities are actively blocking TPO during the interconnection process, and the PSC is not able to stop them. Wisconsin solar installers should know this history and avoid offering TPO at this time. If an installer is offering TPO in Wisconsin as part of their services, it is either not aware of important regulatory information or is lying to customers.
If you are still considering a TPO offer from an installer, speak to your utility before moving forward with the project.
In the meantime, creating clarity around TPO remains a priority for RENEW. It is our hope that either a case will find its way before the Wisconsin Supreme Court and provide clarity around the use of TPO, or that new legislation can be crafted and passed to create a clear pathway for TPO.
This would allow us to join the 28 other states across the country that have opened a clear pathway to financing options that help more people gain access to the benefits of clean and affordable solar energy.
On Thursday, July 30, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) approved Dawn Break Solar. This Waushara County project comes in at 180 Megawatts (MW) and is paired with an equally large battery energy storage system (BESS). Many renewable energy advocates joined us in supporting this project, thanks to all of you who helped us support this project as it sought approval from the PSC.
In our comments that advocated for this project, we highlighted both the benefits of the clean energy it will produce, along with the many economic benefits.
When construction is completed, Dawn Break Solar is expected to create many temporary construction jobs, as well as several long-term local jobs for operations and maintenance. Landowners will also benefit from consistent lease payments during the 35-year lifespan of the project.
Over the course of its life, the project will contribute more than $31.5 million in utility-aid payments. Local governments will receive $900,000 annually, with $510,000 for Waushara County and $390,000 for the Towns of Oasis, Plainfield, Deerfield, and Hancock.
Along with the many direct economic benefits, Dawn Break Solar will reduce emissions from energy production by about 600 million pounds of CO2 in the first year of operations. In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, this is the equivalent of taking more than 59,100 vehicles off the road for a full year.
The more we reduce our emissions, the more benefits we will see, specifically better health outcomes. In this case, Wisconsin can expect more than $1.3 million in economic benefits associated with public health improvements in Dawn Break Solar’s first year of operations alone.
Dawn Break Solar is just one piece of the clean energy puzzle. We hope you’ll all continue to join us in supporting invaluable projects like this as we continue to build our clean energy future.
Wisconsin needs a comprehensive energy plan. State Capitol and renewable energy collage by Henry Redman. (Photos by Baylor Spears and Marga Buschbell-Steeger/Getty)
In a recent guest column, I argued that Wisconsin’s clean energy future is about affordability, jobs, manufacturing and economic competitiveness.
The next question is equally important:
How should we build that future?
Not one regulatory docket at a time.
Wisconsin stands at one of the most consequential energy crossroads in its history. Artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and electrification are driving electricity demand faster than anyone anticipated. The Public Service Commission’s draft Strategic Energy Assessment projects peak demand could increase by more than 40 percent by 2032, with more than 70 percent of that growth tied to just three proposed hyperscale data centers.
Those investments present tremendous economic opportunities. They also require smarter planning.
Today, the PSC is evaluating the Foundry Ridge and Red Oak Ridge methane gas plants alongside transmission projects, data center tariffs, utility investments, and other major infrastructure. Each proceeding examines a single project. None asks the broader question:
Taken together, are these investments the lowest-cost, lowest-risk path to Wisconsin’s energy future?
Without comprehensive resource planning, regulators have little opportunity to compare alternatives before committing customers to decades of infrastructure costs.
Affordable electricity is economic development.
The decisions made today will determine what Wisconsin families, businesses, manufacturers, and farmers pay for electricity for decades. They will also affect water resources, public health, and our state’s long-term competitiveness.
This is not an argument against growth. Wisconsin will continue to attract investment in advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and data centers. The question is not whether growth occurs, but whether it is planned responsibly so that large energy users pay the costs they create rather than shifting risks onto everyone else.
Planning should begin by comparing complete portfolios of resources instead of evaluating projects in isolation.
Before approving new methane gas plants, regulators should determine whether expanded battery storage, demand response, distributed energy resources, energy efficiency, and additional wind and solar generation can provide the same reliability at lower long-term cost and lower financial risk.
The cleanest megawatt is often the one that never has to be generated.
Demand response is infrastructure. Every megawatt shifted away from peak demand reduces pressure on the grid and can delay or eliminate the need for costly new power plants. Large customers, including data centers, have enormous opportunities to shift demand through operational flexibility and advanced controls.
Battery storage also deserves greater attention. Increasingly, it competes directly with natural gas by providing reliability during periods of peak demand while avoiding decades of fuel costs and emissions.
Water belongs in this conversation as well.
Both data centers and methane gas plants can require substantial water for cooling. The proposed Red Oak Ridge facility alone could consume hundreds of thousands of gallons each day. In rural Wisconsin, where farms, private wells, trout streams, wetlands, and local economies depend on reliable water supplies, those impacts deserve careful scrutiny before permits are approved.
Natural gas will likely remain part of Wisconsin’s energy mix during the transition. But every new gas plant also commits customers to decades of fuel-price risk driven by commodity markets, pipeline constraints, extreme weather, LNG exports, and geopolitical uncertainty. Clean energy resources, by contrast, have no fuel costs and are often the lowest-cost, fastest-to-deploy options available.
Reliability and clean energy are not competing goals.
Modern planning can deliver both.
Wisconsin should also modernize its regulatory framework by evaluating the cumulative impacts of related infrastructure investments. Generation, transmission, data centers, water use, and utility planning are interconnected. They should be planned together, not approved one docket at a time.
Wisconsin has everything it needs to lead: world-class manufacturers, innovative businesses, skilled workers, abundant renewable resources, productive farmland, and a clean energy economy that already employs more than 75,000 people.
Wisconsin does not have an electricity shortage.
It has a planning challenge.
Planning reduces costs. It improves reliability. It protects water resources. It strengthens economic competitiveness.
Most importantly, it allows Wisconsin to build an energy system designed for 2050, rather than one modeled in 1990.
Instead of approving Wisconsin’s energy future one docket at a time, let’s build it through one comprehensive plan.
What if someone told you that you could save money on your electric bill by getting a small solar array that can fit on your balcony or patio? It is possible — just not in Wisconsin. At least not explicitly.
Millions of such systems have been installed in Europe, giving people the option to use solar energy to offset some of the electricity they use. Because electrical systems differ here, several manufacturers are developing comparable products for use in the U.S. Meeting electrical safety standards is one of the most important steps in making these products ready for balconies, lawns, and the like across the country.
As these products become more widely available, it will be important to make sure you purchase ones specifically designed to meet the strict criteria of UL and the National Electrical Code. Not only to make sure you’re following established rules (once they are created), but also to keep you and your home safe.
Because these approved systems are intentionally small and limited in how much they can produce, they shouldn’t need to be approved by your utility company. These smaller solar systems produce just enough electricity to power a couple of appliances, meaning all the energy they create is used immediately.
So far, existing plug-in solar kits include all the essentials someone might need to simply plug them into an electrical outlet. The attached inverter and plug are designed to shut off when unplugged, during an outage, or when a voltage adjustment is needed.
The solar panels in these kits are the same technology as those on rooftops and solar fields. The economics of purchasing these kits and seeing real savings by buying less electricity is also pretty straightforward. So what would it take to make it explicitly legal here in Wisconsin? Creating a law that sets up rules and regulations to ensure we can safely reduce our energy bills.
This step requires legislation to allow customers to install these systems under clear guidance. Legislation will also help to create clear rules and guidelines for safe use. Model legislation is available as a starting point, and with over 20 states introducing legislation, many examples of proposals exist, including some that have already been signed into law. A Wisconsin proposal is in the works, too.
It’s exciting to see all the enthusiasm building for balcony solar in the state, but we must keep in mind that changing public policy is not a sprint, not even a marathon, but more like a triathlon. If you want to do something before our next legislative session kicks off in January, consider speaking with some Wisconsin candidates for the upcoming elections this year. Tell them you value clean, affordable energy.
Public comments are open now through June 11 for Dawn Break Solar, a 180 Megawatt (MW) solar project paired with a 180 MW battery energy storage system. If approved, the solar project will be located in Waushara County and is planned for completion in 2029. Projects like this have a wide range of local and statewide benefits. Show your support for this project and tell the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) why you support the approval of a vital solar project in Wisconsin!
You can use some of the listed benefits below to help you craft your message.
Dawn Break Solar isn’t just about the clean energy it will produce. The 180 MW facility in Waushara County has many benefits:
Economic Growth: Dawn Break Solar is expected to create construction jobs, as well as several long-term local jobs for operations and maintenance. Landowners will also benefit from consistent lease payments during the 35-year lifespan of the project.
Community Benefits: Once in service, Dawn Break Solar will contribute more than $31.5 million in utility-aid payments. Local governments will receive $900,000 annually, with $510,000 for Waushara County and $390,000 for the Towns of Oasis, Plainfield, Deerfield, and Hancock.
Emissions Reductions: Dawn Break Solar will reduce emissions from energy production by about 600 million pounds of CO2 in the first year of operations. In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, this is the equivalent of taking more than 59,100 vehicles off the road for a full year. Additionally, non-GHG emissions reductions will result in health, economic, and environmental benefits. Wisconsin can expect more than $1.3 million in economic benefits associated with public health improvements in Dawn Break Solar’s first year of operations alone.
Submit your comments today and tell the PSC you support the approval of Dawn Break Solar. Feel free to use some of the bullet points above to craft your own unique message.
In the nonprofit world, we spend a lot of our time planning how we will continue to fund our mission—similar to how many people spend much of their time planning how they will make ends meet.
In some cases, for those who can’t make ends meet on their own, there are nonprofits to help. They feed, house, educate, and even protect us. Through RENEW’s Solar for Good program, we have the unique opportunity to help other nonprofits, as well as schools and houses of worship.
The formula is fairly simple—we make it easier for these organizations to access solar power, reducing their energy bills and, in turn, their operating budgets. The hope is that this help allows each and every one of them to spend more of their money and time where it matters: their mission.
Ultimately, every panel that goes up on a food pantry or affordable housing development means one more person who gets to reap the benefits of renewable energy.
Hunger Task Force
In 2025, Hunger Task Force completed a 465-panel array on their new headquarters in Milwaukee. Solar for Good helped the project come to fruition with a $48,237 grant, which covered about 13% of the project cost. Thanks to a wide mix of grants, donations, and government funding, Hunger Task Force covered most of the costs of this project.
Based on projected energy savings of $29,160 per year, Hunger Task Force will pay back its out-of-pocket expenses through avoided energy costs. Each year after that, another nearly $30,000 can go toward providing healthy food to those in need in and around Milwaukee. For every dollar spent on this project, Hunger Task Force will see $1.79 come back to it over the expected life of a typical solar array.
The dollars and cents are a huge motivating factor, but for a nonprofit focused on healthy meals and stewardship, we see additional benefits that are well aligned with the core mission of Hunger Task Force. By reducing emissions, this array helps lower air pollution and mitigate the effects of climate change, both of which lead to better health outcomes for our communities.
In 2023, the West Central Wisconsin Community Action Agency (West CAP) completed a 29-kilowatt solar array at one of their low-income housing projects to reduce energy bills for families. Solar for Good provided 27 panels through our grant program, about a third of the panels needed for the array. At the time of its completion, it was projected that the array would fully meet the energy needs of the families who would live in the low-income housing project.
Since 1965, West Cap has worked to promote the self-sufficiency of low-income families in the rural communities of west central Wisconsin. Solar panel technology has become a relatively new tool in efforts like this, as it can be used to completely or nearly eliminate energy bills for families that need a hand making life more affordable.
As Peter H. Kilde, former West CAP Executive Director, put it, “Through our poverty-fighting programs, we want to help prepare families for a world less dependent on fossil-fueled energy. This funding will not only allow us to reduce carbon emissions and help our planet, but it will also ease the energy burden for low-income families so they can afford their housing for the long term.”
In 2025, the Sauk Prairie School District completed its second of two solar arrays for a total of 350-kilowatts of power. Their goal was to reduce their energy costs and, therefore, their overall operating budget. The savings will be placed in a fund to replace the roofs of each building across the district, as well as the solar panels. Solar for Schools, now part of Solar for Good, donated 179 panels, just over 20% of the total project.
It’s expected that the array at the elementary school will produce half of the building’s energy needs. As of July 2025, the smaller installation at the high school had already saved the district $15,000 in energy bills, just 10 months into operation.
The project serves as an educational tool for students and the community, with real-time data on energy generation and savings available online.
As we see electricity bills rise and fossil fuel resources impacted by global conflict, the power of a solar array is becoming greater each day. And though this work has already touched so many, there are even more organizations out there that have yet to realize the benefits of this energy source.
To keep this work moving forward, we need people like you to support this effort. Together, we can help the nonprofits and schools of Wisconsin manage their energy bills so that they can focus their resources and time on what matters most: helping our communities.
On Thursday, May 21, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) approved the Fox Solar Project. At 100 Megawatts (MW), this solar project will produce enough clean energy to power about 25,000 homes. The project is paired with a 50 MW battery energy storage system, providing the flexibility to provide power when the sun goes down.
Located in Oconto County, it is planned for completion in 2028. Projects like this have a wide range of local and statewide benefits, including economic growth, new funding for local municipalities, and reduced emissions from energy production.
Witness testimony from David Loomis of Strategic Economic Research stated that this project will create 300 temporary jobs during construction, along with an additional 20 long-term jobs related to the project’s economic activity.
Along with jobs, the project will support the surrounding communities through utility-aid payments. Over the 25-year life of the project, it is expected to contribute more than $13 million in utility aid payments to Oconto County and the Town of Morgan. Recent legislation has changed utility-aid payments to also include battery installations, which has increased the previous estimate on payments for local governments.
Beyond the economic aspects of this project, it also provides an additional source of clean, reliable energy that isn’t subject to volatile fuel prices. With this project we’re removing 304 million pounds of CO2 related to energy production in the first year of operations, and that’s just the CO2 emissions.
The amount of emissions reductions we’ll see from the project is about the same as taking almost 30,000 cars off the road. Avoided emissions, whether from energy production or our cars, means healthier air for everyone. We estimate that in Fox Solar’s first year of energy production, we’ll see $690,000 in economic benefits associated with the public health improvements we expect to see
Thanks to everyone who took the time to share their support of Fox Solar with the PSC!
Meet RENEW Wisconsin’s Spring 2026 Solar for Good Awardees
Casa Ester has been in Omro for nearly twenty years. They welcome migrant farmworker families arriving in Winnebago County, run a youth garden that donates produce to local food pantries, teach social justice education to participants in over a dozen countries, and last year alone helped more than 450 people stay housed. Every dollar they have goes toward the people who walk through their door.
When Casa Ester decided to go solar, the reasoning was clear. Spending less on electricity means more money available for families facing eviction. They, along with five other organizations, have been selected as awardees of this spring’s Solar for Good grant round. Each organization will receive a $5,000 grant to support its efforts to reduce its energy burden and carbon footprint. By going solar, they can do more to serve communities across the state.
The Spring 2026 Awardees
In Chippewa Falls, Hope Village is the only no-cost emergency shelter in Chippewa County. Since 2016, they have helped 339 people navigate housing instability, with 71% finding permanent housing on the other side. This is their second solar project, built on the success of the first. Lower energy costs mean more capacity to serve guests, run programming, and keep the doors open for people who have nowhere else to go.
In Tomah, First Congregational UCC has been working toward solar for three years. Located in Monroe County’s highest-poverty city, they run an early childhood center, support foster families, and provide meals at the free clinic. This summer, they will become the first church in Tomah to go solar and are already planning an open house where they will invite every congregation in town and ask the question they have been sitting with.
TransCenter for Youth has been running small alternative high schools in Milwaukee since 1973, serving students who have not found their footing in larger, more traditional systems. At Shalom High School, students will soon track real-time energy production from a restored solar array through a live dashboard they helped design. The energy savings go back into the school. Beyond the financial benefit, there is something meaningful about a school where students have often been told resources like this are not available to them choosing to lead on clean energy.
At Lake Mills Area School District, solar is going up across the Elementary and Middle Schools. The district also runs a senior center partnership, a multilingual learner program for immigrant families, and a student-run food pantry called The Mills. The energy savings from a project of this size are real and recurring, freeing up resources year after year to keep those programs funded and those buildings open to the full community.
In Strum, the local public library is building a timber-framed solar canopy that also serves as an outdoor learning and programming space. The savings on utilities go directly back into programming for the community. This summer, children in the reading program will learn about solar energy through hands-on activities and watch live energy production on a display inside the library. It is a thoughtful investment from a community that takes its role as a public resource seriously.
The Same Logic, Six Times Over
Six organizations. Six communities. Different missions, different zip codes, different sizes. The same logic runs through all of them: when organizations spend less on keeping the lights on, they have more to give to the people who need them most. We are proud to support each of these groups and look forward to celebrating with them at their ribbon cuttings.
Help Us Do More of This
Every organization in this cohort is doing more for their community because solar has freed up room in their budget. Solar for Good runs on the support of donors who believe clean energy should reach every corner of Wisconsin, not just the places that can easily afford it. A gift goes directly toward grants for nonprofits, schools, libraries, shelters, and faith communities doing work that matters.
Every $5,000 raised is one more organization that gets to do a little more for its community. It’s that simple.
If this work resonates with you, please consider making a gift today. Help us continue to plant solar where it matters most.
On Thursday, May 14, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approved Muddy Creek Solar, a 322 Megawatt (MW) solar project paired with a 300 MW battery energy storage system. Developed by Geronimo Power, the project is expected to provide nearly $2 million in annual utility aid payments to local municipalities.
Geronimo Power has also shown its commitment to supporting the community that will host the project by pledging an annual $75,000 donation to local school districts. Through a Charitable Pledge Agreement, the Menomonie Area School District and the Elk Mound Area School District will receive $12,500 and $62,500, respectively, for 20 years after the project begins operations.
In addition to the direct cash benefit to local municipalities, the project is expected to create more than 800 temporary jobs during construction and more than 50 long-term jobs. Also important to consider is the direct payments to landowners who have leased their land for the life of this project.
This project shows that clean energy projects can bolster our local economies, provide our state with the energy it needs, and reduce our carbon emissions from energy generation.
In total, we expect this project to reduce emissions by 954 million pounds of CO2, the equivalent of removing 94,000 gas-powered vehicles from our roads. And that’s just the CO2.
Thanks to the reduction of CO2 and the several other greenhouse gases that fossil fuels would pump into the air we breathe, Wisconsin can expect more than $2 million in economic benefits associated with public health improvements in Muddy Creek Solar’s first year of operations alone.
This solar and battery project will provide many things Wisconsin needs—jobs, reliable energy, consistent income for landowners, more funding for our schools and local governments, and cleaner air. And when the project reaches the end of its life, the land can be returned to its prior use, whether that be agricultural, recreational, or some other purpose.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to share their support for this much-needed energy project. Together, we can transform how Wisconsin is powered.
But their anticipated output would not be sufficient to serve data center projects in the construction pipeline
*Guest Blog by Michael Vickerman—RENEW Wisconsin Board Member
Construction of large solar power plants in Wisconsin will accelerate throughout the decade, thanks to a series of regulatory approvals handed down over the past 12 months. Indeed, by all appearances, solar power will dominate utility investment in new sources of electric power for the foreseeable future.
In March 2026 alone, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) approved utility requests to acquire three solar projects—two in Columbia County and one in Rock County—totaling 315 megawatts (MW). When energized over the next two years, these three plants will generate more than 600,000 megawatt-hours of zero-emission electricity annually to customers. That amounts to 0.9% of electricity consumption in the Badger State.
As shown in Table 1 below, WEC Energy and Madison Gas & Electric will add 1.265 gigawatts, or 1,265 MW, of solar power to their generation fleets over the next three years. Construction is well underway at the Koshkonong and High Noon project sites, and ground will be broken this year on the other solar plants listed in the table.
Construction is also proceeding on a 250 MW solar plant in central Wisconsin owned by Minneapolis-based Geronimo Energy. Anticipated to be placed in service later this year, the Portage Solar plant will produce electricity for the wholesale market and sell the renewable energy credits (RECs) from that generation to Microsoft, which will soon complete construction on a hyperscale data center in Racine County. When activated later this year, Microsoft’s facility will become the largest consumer of electricity in the entire state, with a baseline demand of approximately 500 MW. Microsoft will purchase all of the RECs produced by Portage Solar to offset a portion of that facility’s electricity usage.
Utility-owned solar generating plants often come paired with battery energy storage systems (BESS) placed within the project boundaries. These installations can store up to four hours of electricity at the battery’s rated capacity.
At the Koshkonong project, for example, the battery system is designed to accept as much as 660 MWh of electricity generated onsite. These BESS units will enable grid operators to discharge stored electricity directly into the transmission system when demand peaks later in the afternoon and evening.
In just a handful of years, solar has emerged as the fastest-growing in-state source of electric power, and its contribution to electricity supplies now surpasses wind and hydro combined (see Table 2). Accounting for 6.6% of Wisconsin-generated electricity in 2025, solar generation could reach the 10% threshold by 2030.
Will solar growth be large enough to offset anticipated load growth driven by hyperscale data centers?
As impressive as solar’s growth was in 2025, it wasn’t large enough to fully offset the increase in electricity consumption that occurred that year. The other generation resource that saw a significant increase in output from 2024 was coal, whose rise came at the expense of fossil methane. Factoring in other hyperscale data centers now under construction, it will be a challenge to offset rising electricity sales with new solar generation.
As applied to retail electricity customers, the term “capacity factor” is a measure of their actual electrical consumption in a year divided by its peak demand multiplied by 8,760, the number of hours in a year. The consensus estimate of a hyperscale data center’s capacity factor falls in the 75% to 80% range.
Compared with other customer types, hyperscale data centers impose an unprecedented level of demand on the electric grids that serve them, due to the following reasons.
Massive scale of operations serving millions of users;
Expansion of AI use is driving the need for high-density computing power;
With the above in mind, let’s estimate the power consumption from Microsoft’s Mt. Pleasant campus that will commence operations later this year. If we assume a peak load of 500 MW and a capacity factor of 75 to 80%, electricity consumption from this particular entity would range from 3.3 to 3.5 million MWh per year, or 5% of the electricity sales recorded in the entire state of Wisconsin last year.
It would take six solar plants the size of Koshkonong–1,800 MW in total–to offset, on a MWh by MWh basis, the anticipated consumption from just the Mt. Pleasant data center alone. When the two Beaver Dam and the Port Washington data center projects are brought into the picture, the number of Koshkonong-size projects needed to offset all four hyperscalers in the pipeline would exceed 20.
Given that, it’s fair to conclude that the data center build-out will elevate greenhouse gas emissions from Wisconsin’s electric power industry even with a robust expansion of in-state solar power. Unless something changes on the ground, this worrisome outcome, and all the unpleasant environmental and economic consequences that it will amplify, is quite literally baked into our future.
April has been a rough month for much of Wisconsin. Hail, high winds, tornadoes, and heavy rain have rolled through the state, causing real damage. Here in Madison, the storm on April 14 brought baseball-sized hail, almost three inches across!
Other parts of central and southern Wisconsin got even bigger stones. Cars were dented. Roofs were torn up. Siding was cracked. Power poles came down. And yes, some solar panels broke too.
That’s the reality of weather like this. Extreme storms damage what’s in their path, and almost nothing on the outside of a home gets a free pass when hail comes down at that size. If your panels took a hit, they may need to be repaired or replaced. That’s not great news, but it’s also not the end of the world.
If you were thinking about going solar before the storms rolled through, the storms shouldn’t change the math on that decision. The path forward, whether you’re repairing a system or building one for the first time, looks a lot like dealing with any other part of your home.
How to Get Your System Back Up and Running
When panels get damaged in a storm like this, the fix looks a lot like dealing with hail damage to your roof or siding. The process moves through a few clear steps.
Contact Your Homeowner’s Insurance and Your Installer
Both should know what happened as soon as possible. Your installer works directly with the insurance company on your behalf from there. They document the damage, walk the adjuster through what they’re seeing, and handle the repair, replacement, and reinstall. The homeowner isn’t navigating it alone.
Know Your Coverage Before a Storm Hits
Most standard homeowner’s policies cover rooftop solar under the dwelling section, but it’s worth confirming that hail and wind are listed as covered perils and that your coverage limit reflects what your system is actually worth. Some policies in hail-prone areas carry separate wind and hail deductibles, and ground-mounted systems sometimes need a separate rider, so it helps to know what your specific policy says before you need to use it.
The Rest of the System Is Built To Make This Manageable
Manufacturers test their panels to real standards. Installers know how to work with insurance companies. Each part does its job so that when something does go wrong, the path forward is clear.
Your installer can also help you sort out what’s covered by equipment warranties versus insurance, and show you how to use your monitoring app to confirm the system is performing normally after repairs.
What Hail Does to a Panel
Knowing what kind of damage you’re looking at helps you follow along when your installer comes out for an inspection.
Visible damageis less common than people expect, but also the most obvious when it happens. Cracks, chips, or spiderwebbed glass that you can spot from the ground. The tempered glass on top of a panel is built to take a hit, which is why this kind of damage usually only shows up in the more extreme storms. Worth noting too: when a panel does break, the glass stays contained inside the panel. Solar panels are sealed between layers of plastic and held together by an aluminum frame, so cracks don’t send glass flying across your yard or your neighbor’s.
Hidden microcracksare the ones experts worry about more. These are microscopic fractures inside the solar cells that might not affect performance right away, but can spread over time the same way a small chip in a windshield can grow into a longer crack. Left unchecked, microcracks can gradually reduce efficiency and create hot spots inside the panel. That’s why post-storm inspections matter even when a system seems to be running fine.
Cell and busbar damage happens beneath the surface when hail’s impact energy transfers through the glass. The busbars are the thin metal strips that carry electricity across the panel. Modern panels use many ultra-thin busbars or wires per cell, often well into double digits, which helps keep current flowing even if part of a cell takes a hit.
A cracked panel will usually still generate electricity at reduced output. If it needs to be replaced, it should be replaced. If it’s still performing within spec, it can keep running. The key is having someone qualified take a look so you know what you’re working with.
A Quick Note on the Testing
Quality solar panels are built to two main standards that work together.
IEC 61215 is the performance and durability standard set by the International Electrotechnical Commission. It covers how a panel holds up against weather, including the hail impact testing, where technicians fire ice balls at panels using compressed air cannons. The basic test uses one-inch ice balls at high speeds, and many panels are tested even further against ice balls up to three inches across at speeds up to 88 miles per hour. To pass, the panel has to keep producing power within spec after the impact.
UL 61730 is the safety standard set by Underwriters Laboratories, which covers electrical safety, fire resistance, and structural integrity. Together, they tell you a panel can take the weather and stay safe doing it.
The Bigger Picture
Everything on the outside of your home already takes a beating from Wisconsin weather. Your roof, your siding, your windows, and the AC unit out back. None of that has stopped anyone from owning a home. You carry insurance for a reason, and when something breaks, you call somebody who knows how to fix it. Solar panels are no different than anything else on your house in that respect.
April has been hard on Wisconsin, no question about it. But the things people depend on after a storm have shown up. Insurance is paying out. Installers are out doing the work. Hail and wind can damage panels. That’s true. What matters is having the right people in your corner and the right coverage in place when it happens. A solid installer and the right insurance policy take care of that.
Earlier this week, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) approved Akron Solar! This 200 Megawatt (MW) solar project will be located in Adams and Wood Counties and is planned for completion in the latter half of 2029. Projects like this have a wide range of local and statewide benefits. Thanks to everyone who helped make this project happen, especially those who submitted comments to the PSC and told them why Wisconsin needs more solar power!
Even though we’re only three months into 2026, we are excited about the amount of progress we have already made. That said, there’s plenty more for us to accomplish this year. We hope you’re just as excited as we are to keep the momentum up and help us create a future where everyone benefits from the renewable energy revolution!
Akron Solar’s benefits extend well beyond the clean energy it will produce. If you’re not familiar with the project, below are some additional reasons why we support this project:
Economic Growth: According to a report by Strategic Economic Research, Akron Solar will create more than 450 jobs during construction, as well as more than 14 good-paying, long-term positions in Adams and Wood Counties.
Community Benefits: Once in service, Akron Solar will contribute more than $1,000,000 in utility-aid payments each year. Over $566,000 of this will go to the counties, while the remaining $433,33 will go to the towns of Rome and Saratoga. During its 25-year life, the project will contribute a total of at least $25million in utility-aid payments.
Emissions Reductions: Akron Solar will reduce energy production emissions by 650 million pounds of CO2 in the first year of operations. In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, this is the equivalent of taking more than 64,000 vehicles off the road for a full year. These emissions reductions will result in health, economic, and environmental benefits. Wisconsin can expect more than $1.4 million in economic benefits associated with public health improvements in Akron Solar’s first year of operations alone.
When Francis Wang ’21, MEng ’22 first joined the MIT Edgerton Center’s Solar Electric Vehicle Team (SEVT), his approach to engineering projects was “to focus my energy and attention on a tidy problem with neat boundaries that I could completely control.”
“But on Solar Car, I realized it takes a very different mindset to manage a substantial project with many moving pieces. It takes engineering leadership,” he recalls.
Wang was determined to strengthen his leadership skills. When he became Solar Car captain, he applied and was accepted into the Gordon Engineering Leadership (GEL) Program.
GEL’s courses and hands-on labs equip students with capabilities they need to lead and contribute to complex, real-world engineering challenges. The one- or two-year program for juniors and seniors complements MIT’s technical education, teaching teamwork, leadership, and communication skills in an engineering context. GEL students also benefit from personalized coaching, mentoring, industry networking, and career support throughout their professional lives.
“Before GEL, I saw the leadership parts of my role as a necessary evil to get to the actual interesting parts, which was the engineering,” says Wang. “The GEL Program gave me an understanding of how engineering leadership is crucial, because in the real world any project worth working on is larger than the scope of an individual engineer.”
In GEL he improved capabilities such as decision-making, taking initiative, and negotiating. He became a more effective SEVT team captain, able to navigate the challenges of taking an engineering project from concept to completion.
“It was often the case that the challenges I faced on Solar Car were not solely technical, involving aspects of communication, coordination, and negotiation. From GEL, I had the framework and the language to approach them,” says Wang.
Each year, 30-40 Edgerton students are accepted into the GEL Program. They come from a variety of teams and clubs including Arcturus, Assistive Technology Club, ChemE Club, Combat Robotics Club, Design Build Fly (DBF), Design for America, Electric Vehicle Team, Engineers Without Borders, First Nations Launch, MIT Electronics Research Society (MITERS), Motorsports, Robotics Team, Rocket Team, and Solar Electric Vehicle Team (SEVT).
“MIT’s best engineering students have GEL training and authentic project management experience with our competition teams,” says Professor J. Kim Vandiver, director of the Edgerton Center.
Edgerton project teams are entirely student-run organizations responsible for all levels of project and team management including fundraising, recruiting, designing, testing, risk mitigation, and project validation. The most successful teams have skilled leaders.
“Many of the excellent Edgerton project team students admitted to GEL are team or sub-team leaders who credit their GEL experience, particularly the experiential learning component, with improving their leadership skills,” says Leo McGonagle, executive director of GEL.
“It’s a win-win-win. GEL gets hard-working, motivated Edgerton Program students who are intent on self-development and improvement. Edgerton project teams often perform better with leaders who are GEL-trained. And the students gain leadership, teamwork, and communication abilities that they can use beyond their project team — in their capstones, course projects, internships, and jobs after MIT,” says McGonagle.
The overlapping connection between GEL and Edgerton truly becomes obvious when students begin to take ownership of project milestones.
“When you become the leader of a technical project, no one gives you a roadmap to team success,” says senior Hailey Polson, former captain of First Nations Launch team. “Technical expertise is not enough to leverage the talent and skills of an entire team or the ability to coordinate a multifaceted project; that’s where the tools, skills, and leadership theory I learned in GEL helped me bridge the gap between knowing how to accomplish our goals and actually leading my team successfully.”
Faris Elnager ’25 served as testing lead on the Motorsports team, which designs, manufactures, and competes with a formula-style electric race car every year.
“Making tough decisions was something that I learned in GEL. On Motorsports, I had to make high-stakes decisions about testing time that affected how we performed at a competition,” he says.
He found that GEL’s weekly Engineering Leadership Labs were a way to test for himself specific leadership capabilities that he could use to improve his Motorsports team.
“One of the most useful skills from GEL was evaluating your stakeholders and learning how to balance their needs. I remember thinking, we’re doing this right now in the [GEL] lab, and then we’re going back to the [Edgerton] shop to do this for real!” says Elnager. “It’s like a positive feedback loop. GEL labs make you better on project teams, and project teams make you better in GEL.”
Now a startup co-founder, Elnager says that the communication skills that he learned through Motorsports and GEL have been critical to his company’s early success. “You can build the best tech in the world. If you can’t pitch it to people, you’re never going to raise any money. Being able to explain a technical project to anyone, whether they're an investor or someone in your industry, is something that’s incredibly valuable.”
Adrienne Lai ’25 served as both mechanical lead and then captain of the Solar Electric Vehicle Team. She recalls how her GEL training would kick in on race day.
“It’s quite tricky to be captain of a build team, because there’s no adult to tell you what to do. You have to figure it all out for yourself. When you’re competing, it can be very chaotic. You are trying to maximize a score by driving more miles, but that comes with a trade-off of spending energy or ending the day in a more rural area, or with less sun, so there are a lot of trade-offs to consider. Sometimes someone just has to make a decision. I was very comfortable doing that because I had learned how to take initiative, which is one of the GEL capabilities,” she says.
Now a course assistant in GEL, Lai helps design scenarios that enable GEL students to become better and more resilient leaders. She particularly enjoys playing the role of an uncooperative supplier.
“We close our store randomly. We don’t have what they need. We won’t tell them what we have,” she laughs. “Students get very frustrated. They think that we’re just being mean. But from a real-world perspective, that is all very true. It simulates unpredictability, which is important not just in a job, but in life.”
The value of the engineering leadership skills learned in GEL and honed on Edgerton project teams carries forward into industry, graduate studies, and entrepreneurial ventures.
“GEL preparation, coupled with authentic project management on a competition team, prepares MIT students for great careers in industry,” says Vandiver.
Henry Smith ’25 says he still relies on skills such as negotiation, communication, and understanding stakeholder needs that he used when he was a Motorsports mechanical lead.
“I was doing high-level management, planning, and organization on the team. Being in the GEL Program really increased my value for the team and helped me be prepared to enter the job field. When I graduated, I wasn’t worried about being ready or not. It was a definite yes,” says Smith.
As project teams continue to address ambitious engineering challenges, the synergy between Edgerton and the Gordon Engineering Leadership (GEL) Program ensures that as students graduate, they’re prepared to not only become strong technical contributors, but confident leaders prepared to tackle complex engineering problems in the real world.
Public comments are open now through March 9 for Fox Solar, a 100 Megawatt (MW) solar project paired with a 50 MW battery energy storage system. If approved, the solar project will be located in Oconto County and is planned for completion in 2028. Projects like this have a wide range of local and statewide benefits. Show your support for this project and tell the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) why you support the approval of a vital solar project in Wisconsin!
You can use some of the listed benefits below to help you craft your message.
Fox Solar isn’t just about the clean energy it will produce. The 100 MW facility in Oconto County has many benefits:
Economic Growth: According to witness testimony provided by David Loomis of Strategic Economic Research, Fox Solar will create 300 temporary jobs during construction, as well as more than 20 good-paying, long-term jobs across Wisconsin due to economic stimulus related to the project.
Community Benefits: Once in service, Fox Solar will contribute more than $500,000 in utility-aid payments each year. $283,333 of this will go to Oconto County, while the remaining $216,667 will go to the Town of Morgan. During its 25-year life, the project will contribute more than $12 million in utility-aid payments.
Emissions Reductions: Fox Solar will reduce energy production emissions by 304 million pounds of CO2 in the first year of operations. In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, this is the equivalent of taking more than 29,993 vehicles off the road for a full year. Additionally, non-GHG emissions reductions will result in health, economic, and environmental benefits. Wisconsin can expect more than $690,000 in economic benefits associated with public health improvements in Fox Solar’s first year of operations alone.
Submit your comments today and tell the PSC you support the approval of Fox Solar. Feel free to use some of the bullet points above to craft your own unique message.
Solar for Good and Solar for Schools are now under one roof at RENEW Wisconsin. The Solar for Good program was created by the Couillard Solar Foundation, and since its inception, we have appreciated Cal and Laurie Couillard’s trust in us to administer the program. This year, things are changing a little bit. As the Couillard Solar Foundation begins to downsize, we are honored that they have decided to further entrust us with Solar for Good as well as the Solar for Schools program.
With these programs now fully housed under RENEW Wisconsin, we intend to merge the two under the Solar for Good name. Though things are shifting behind the scenes, the mission remains the same — making it possible for mission-based nonprofits, schools, and houses of worship to do more good. By making solar power accessible for these vital organizations and institutions, we can reduce energy costs so more dollars can be spent on the missions that serve Wisconsin communities.
Laurie Couillard shared a few words with us on the history of the Couillard Solar Foundation and their decision to downsize.
“The Couillard Solar Foundation began in 2017 with funds from the sale of Componex, Cal’s small manufacturing company in Edgerton. Our family foundation started our mission to reduce the use of fossil fuels by helping nonprofits and schools install solar energy at their facilities across Wisconsin.
Initially, government rebates were unavailable to nonprofits, so our donations made the installations financially within reach. Partnering with RENEW Wisconsin and Midwest Renewable Energy Association, we focused on our programs, Solar for Good and Solar on Schools, and purchased many shipping containers of solar panels for distribution.
Going forward, we hired staff, grew our foundation board, and educated people about the benefits of renewable energy to combat climate change. As a small private foundation, the Couillard Solar Foundation has had limited success in raising additional donations to continue our programs. As the foundation must downsize due to depleted resources, we are delighted that the dedicated staff of our partner, RENEW Wisconsin, is willing to embrace the challenge to continue our effective programs, Solar for Good and Solar on Schools.
Cal and Laurie Couillard will continue to fundraise with RENEW Wisconsin to support these efforts. We are so grateful for the success of these programs and are hopeful that with RENEW Wisconsin at the helm, we’ll continue to add to the three hundred plus completed solar projects throughout nearly every county in Wisconsin.”
As Laurie mentions above, the Solar for Good and Solar for Schools programs have helped to make more than 300 projects possible, through a mix of financial and solar panel grants. RENEW Wisconsin is proud to have been selected by the Couillards to help carry their legacy of generosity and clean energy advocacy forward.
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