Alliant Vitality unveils plans for Cedar Rapids neighborhood photo voltaic backyard

Electrical energy clients can enroll to obtain month-to-month credit on their electrical payments

Alliant Vitality’s new Cedar Rapids Neighborhood Photo voltaic backyard shall be constructed north of the 1100 block of thirty third Avenue SW on company-owned property. Development begins summer time 2022 with estimated completion of late subsequent summer time. (Alliant Vitality)

CEDAR RAPIDS — Alliant Vitality began building on a neighborhood photo voltaic backyard in Cedar Rapids this summer time, and as soon as it’s full subsequent summer time, enrolled electrical energy clients can obtain month-to-month credit on their electrical payments.

The photo voltaic backyard will encompass 18,000 photo voltaic blocks. At most output, the 4.5-megawatt mission may energy round 3,600 properties, the corporate stated in a Tuesday information launch.

The photo voltaic backyard shall be constructed on Alliant property north of the 1100 block of thirty third Avenue SW in Cedar Rapids. Development is anticipated to be accomplished by late summer time 2023.

The photo voltaic vitality generated shall be delivered to the ability grid, the place Alliant Vitality manages its sale in the marketplace.

Alliant clients can purchase a photo voltaic block from the backyard and obtain month-to-month vitality credit on their electrical payments, starting at 5.59 cents per kilowatt-hour. These credit will start as soon as the backyard is working and can proceed for the 20-year lifetime of the mission.

Every 250-watt photo voltaic block will generate a median of 541 kilowatt-hours yearly and is priced at $395, stated Melissa McCarville, a senior communications accomplice for Alliant Vitality. A residential utility buyer makes use of a median of 10, 715 kilowatt-hours in 2020, in keeping with the U.S. Vitality Data Administration.

“Our neighborhood photo voltaic program permits the corporate’s electrical clients to profit from solar energy with out having to put in photo voltaic panels on their property,” she stated.

The incoming neighborhood photo voltaic backyard in Cedar Rapids will convey photo voltaic vitality to subscribers’ properties through the ability grid. (Alliant Vitality)

Enrollment within the mission is on a first-come, first served foundation for Alliant’s electrical clients in Iowa, McCarville stated.

Subscriptions for the neighborhood photo voltaic backyard opened on Tuesday. Alliant Vitality gives an on-line calculator for potential subscribers to find out what number of photo voltaic blocks they would want to complement or absolutely cowl their vitality wants.

Sixty p.c of the backyard — the utmost quantity a single subscriber can declare — is already dedicated to Transamerica and AEGON Asset Administration, a diversified insurance coverage and funding group.

A further 6 p.c shall be allotted to the Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity. Alliant Vitality will donate as much as $400,000 in photo voltaic blocks to Habitat for Humanity householders in want and can difficulty as much as $600,000 in invoice credit to taking part residents.

One other 25 p.c of the photo voltaic blocks are reserved for residential clients. The remaining blocks are actually obtainable for enterprise clients however may finally confide in residential clients as effectively, McCarville stated.

This shall be Alliant Vitality’s first neighborhood photo voltaic backyard in Iowa and its second nationally, following the backyard accomplished in Fond du Lac, Wis., in late 2021.

“We’re excited for our Iowa clients to take pleasure in the advantages of fresh, renewable vitality,” Terry Kouba, president of Alliant Vitality’s Iowa vitality firm, stated within the information launch. “The Neighborhood Photo voltaic program is only one extra approach we are able to use our data and sources to serve our clients whereas bringing them choices and options to satisfy their wants.”

Brittney J. Miller is an environmental reporter for The Gazette and a corps member with Report for America, a nationwide service program that locations journalists in native newsrooms to report on under-covered points.

Feedback: (319) 398-8370; [email protected]