Alliant Energy and the city of Perry have reached an agreement to install a 1-megawatt solar facility on a 7-acre site on the western edge of the city. On April 5, a lease for the project was approved during the City Council Meeting.
“The city of Perry looks forward to hosting a solar energy project in our community,” said Sven Peterson, city administrator for the city of Perry. “Our collaboration with Alliant Energy on this facility will provide financial, environmental and educational benefits to the city and area residents.”
By hosting the solar facility, the city of Perry will receive significant revenue from lease payments for 25 years. The city will also obtain renewable energy credits from the project to offset their greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide emissions and help them progress toward their sustainability goals.
“We are excited to partner with the city of Perry to support the community and bring more clean energy to our customers. This is the first Alliant Energy Customer Hosted Renewables solar facility in the state of Iowa,” said Mason Adams, Alliant Energy key account manager. “This project is a win-win that will benefit the local economy and the environment for many years to come. It represents our vision to provide a clean energy future for our customers and the communities we serve.”
The solar facility will be located on a remediated brownfield site that the city of Perry has worked to put a renewable energy project on for several years. With the Customer Hosted Renewables Program in place, Alliant Energy’s solar proposal met the city’s guidelines and the city’s goal to have clean energy generation on the land will soon be a reality.
“The new Alliant Energy program allowed us to move forward to build a solar facility, which will help us redevelop a property that is challenging to reuse,” said Peterson. “In addition, the Raccoon River Valley Trail is adjacent to this installation and that will provide a highly visible opportunity to promote and educate the public regarding solar energy. It’s an ideal site for the project.”
Alliant Energy will oversee construction of the solar facility and will own, operate and maintain it. There are no upfront, financing or other costs to the city of Perry. It is expected to be operational by mid-2022.
The Alliant Energy Customer Hosted Renewables Program enables customers with available land to host solar facilities and receive lease payments and renewable energy credits.
