Tag Archives: NextEra

Highly compatible: pollinator-friendly solar projects and farming

By Katie Siegner, Scott Wentzell and Whitney Mann, Minnesota Post

Installed solar capacity in Minnesota crossed the 1-gigawatt threshold last fall, and is set to grow sixfold by 2030 to meet the state’s 10 percent solar energy goal. The management of the land below the panels — most commonly seeded with turf grass — offers an important
opportunity to provide multiple environmental and agricultural benefits in addition to carbon-free energy generation. Last fall, our team of graduate students at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies conducted a cost-benefit analysis of solar development on farmland in
Minnesota, and the results were illuminating. By developing projects as pollinator-friendly — the practice of planting deep-rooted grasses and wildflowers throughout a project site — solar
developers have the potential to provide habitat for threatened pollinator species, restore
important prairie ecosystems, and boost the crop yields of nearby fields. Read more here.

Photo by SoCore Energy: Kearney Solar Farm

Previously posted article with information about Kearney’s Pollinator-Friendly Solar Farm and links to additional resources:
In bid to help bees, Xcel to require vegetation disclosure in solar RFPs

Note about OPPD’s Community-Scale Solar Farm now under construction by NextEra:
Courtney Kennedy, OPPD Alternative Energy Program Manager, announced at Nebraskans for Solar’s March 13^th public forum on OPPD’s Solar Farm, located on an acreage in Fort Calhoun, that it will be pollinator-friendly, with native plants, as well.

WIND ENERGY AND CROPS

Iowa State University Research Finds Wind Farms Positively Impact Crops
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach

OPPD Focused On Continued Investment In Our Communities

Omaha Public Power District News Release
February 14, 2019

Omaha Public Power District is committed to investing in the communities it serves. Furthering that effort, today, the OPPD Board of Directors approved a labor contract for streetlight
conversion work within its service territory to replace current technology with light emitting
diode (LED) technology.

This is part of the district’s five-year plan, officially beginning next month, to replace nearly 100,000 existing high-pressure sodium fixtures within its service territory. To date, OPPD has
converted approximately 400 burned out streetlights to LED. The district is utilizing a contractor alongside OPPD employees due to the volume and time frame of work taking place.
Continue reading here.

Additional Recommended Reading
NDEQ Co-hosting Nebraska Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Conference on March 25, NPPD News Release

NEWS FROM OTHER CITIES & STATES

The nuclear city goes 100% renewable, PV Magazine
Yesterday Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel unveiled the city’s
Resilient Chicago plan, which in action 38 is a commitment to
“transition to 100 percent clean, renewable energy in buildings community-wide by 2035”.

Illinois community solar block grants 10x over-subscribed, PV Magazine
Illinois regulators have received applications for 1.8 GW of community solar projects, far more than state authorities were planning for when they designed the block grant program.
DC eases path for renewable generators as it pursues 100% goal, Utility Dive
Minnesota’s Solar Workforce Has More Than Doubled Since 2015, Twin Cities Business Magazine. A survey conducted by nonprofit organization The Solar Foundation found Minnesota’s
solar job total has increased from 1,995 in 2015 to 4,602 in 2018, making it 15th in the nation for solar workforce size.
Poll Finds Renewable Energy Support Among Conservative Voters, Statehouse News Bureau
A poll released by the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum says more than two-thirds of conservative respondents support renewable energy development and favored fair wind turbine setback laws that allow a landowner to lease property for wind farm projects.
Wind+solar+storage for the first time in the US utility space, PV Magazine
Portland General Electric and NextEra Energy Resources are developing the nation’s first major
energy facility co-locating wind, solar and energy storage: 300 MW of wind, 50 MWac of solar, and 30 MW / 120 MWh of energy storage.
PGE, NextEra team up for largest wind-solar-storage project in US, Utility Dive
PGE is moving “aggressively” to integrate smart grid technology alongside renewables, President and CEO Maria Pope said in a statement. The Wheatridge project will be “a model for integrating renewable generation and storage,” she said, in order to cost-effectively reduce emissions and balance the grid.
TVA votes to retire Paradise, Bull Run coal units despite Trump tweet, Utility Dive
Never say never: Atlanta draws fresh jolt of energy from sunshine, The Atlanta Journal-
Constitution. Georgia solar power on rise as coal plants shuttered.
The Home Depot Plans More Solar, Wind Investments, Solar Industry Magazine
Forty-five U.S. Home Depot stores currently have operational rooftop solar systems.

TRI-STATE NEWS

Boulder-based juwi developing solar farm in southern Colorado for Tri-State amid changing industry, Boulder Daily Camera
Colorado Public Utilities Commission asserts jurisdiction over Tri-State, Clean Cooperative
Tri-State is a generation and transmission provider that supplies power to over 40 rural cooperatives across Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico.
Colorado co-op’s fight for renewable energy could upend how rural communities are powered, The Colorado Sun

Madison County establishes regulations for solar farms

Written by Jerry Guenther, Norfolk Daily News

On Tuesday, the county board conducted a public hearing and approved a set of solar
regulations that were first considered and approved by the Madison County Joint Planning Commission in recent months . . . Heather McWhorter, the planning and zoning administrator for Madison and Pierce counties, provided the county board with an update on how Madison
County researched its regulations. Read more here.

Image Credit: World Atlas

Previously Posted

NextEra, Nebraska farmers aim to build largest solar farm in the Midwest, by Karen Uhlenhuth, Midwest Energy News

NextEra looking into potential solar farm in northeast Nebraska

By Matt Olberding, Lincoln Journal Star

NextEra has signed a lease for 2,500 acres in Pierce County with brothers Ryan and Aaron Zimmerman, who have a 345-kilovolt Nebraska Public Power District power line running through their land. The brothers told the Energy News Network website that they previously had an agreement with a smaller solar company a couple of years ago. Read more here.

Photo Credit: American Public Power Association

NEWS FROM OTHER STATES

FPL brings online 298 MW of solar parks in Florida, Renewables Now
The company, which is a unit of NextEra Energy Inc, last month unveiled plans to add over 30 million solar panels totaling 11,000 MW in Florida by 2030 and said it will make “unprecedented new investments” in energy storage projects.

Facebook data center opening only days away, KOAT Albuquerque
Facebook said the center will have a $2 billion impact on the state.
Ann Arbor awards grant to elementary school solar program, The Michigan Daily
Experimental sustainable neighborhood in Grand Rapids gets battery storage, Michigan Radio
New report lists steps for Boston to become carbon neutral, Smart Cities Dive
A report commissioned by the city of Boston, Carbon Free Boston, lays out steps the city can take to meet its long-term goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.
Nine laws that helped Nevada solar applications grow 450%, PV Magazine
Brown University offsetting all electric usage with solar, wind power, Providence Journal

INTERVIEW

Local leadership: A conversation with Jodie Van Horn of Sierra Club’s Ready for 100, by Christian Roselund, Americas Editor, PV Magazine

SOLAR IN SPORTS

Move Over Tom Brady, Solar Is the Real Super Bowl MVP, Solar Energy Industries Association

The Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia “hosts over 4,000 solar panels that produce more than 1.6 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, enough to power more home games than the Falcons play during the regular season! It is the first sports facility in U.S. history to receive a Platinum LEED certification, the highest “green” rating a building can achieve.”
Check out SEIA’s Solar in Sports report to see if your favorite teams are taking advantage of solar.

SOLAR AS A SERVICE NEWS

The Time For Home Solar Is Now, Sponsored Post, CleanTechnica
Sunrun’s solar as a service model allows households to access clean solar energy from as little as zero dollars down, with no debt and no maintenance worries. The household simply pays for the energy at a low monthly rate — solar delivered as a service. We install the panels on the roof, monitor them daily, and maintain them.

SOLAR TECHNOLOGY

Aurora Solar raises $20 million in funding and will hire more tech professionals, Solar Power World

Aurora’s world-class engineering team has developed its patented SmartRoof technology, which is the only solution in the market that allows solar professionals to create a highly accurate 3D CAD model of a site in just a few minutes. Using these models, Aurora can forecast how many solar panels will fit on a property, calculate how much energy they will produce, and predict how much money the installation would save a property owner.

EV NEWS

Volkswagen floats opening up EV platform to competitors, Smart Cities Dive. It comes just a couple of weeks after VW and Ford signed a global alliance in which they pledged to cooperate on developing EVs, autonomous vehicles (AVs) and mobility services.

Nine states campaign for 100% clean energy

Rob Sargent, Environment America News Release

In the wake of Environment California’s successful campaign to commit the Golden State to 100 percent clean electricity generation by 2045, Environment America is launching a multi-year campaign to convince governors and legislators in other states to set similar goals to transition to clean energy. Environment America, a national network of state environmental groups, announced it will push bills promoting 100 percent clean energy in at least nine states: Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico and Washington. Read more here.

Environment America’s 100% Renewable Energy Campaign

MORE RENEWABLE ENERGY JOBS

Renewable Energy Jobs in Nebraska, Indeed
Renewable Energy Jobs in Iowa, Indeed
Jobs in the Community Solar Industry, Coalition for Community Solar Access
Another strategy is to search local and national solar and wind
energy companies’ websites for renewable energy jobs postings, or major nonprofit organizations like Environment America if you are interested in renewable energy advocacy jobs.

ADDITIONAL 100% RENEWABLE ENERGY NEWS

The US Underwent a Quiet Clean Energy Revolution Last Year, World Resources Institute. The public perception of U.S. clean energy has undergone a major shift. In a recent survey, 70 percent of respondents said America should produce 100 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources; more than half thought renewables were a good idea even if they raise energy bills.

The 100% clean energy revolution is here, along with big solar opportunities, Solar Power World
Brown University will use Rhode Island solar array and Texas wind farm to offset 100% of on-campus power, Solar Power World

RENEWABLE ENERGY COSTS

NextEra: solar and wind plus batteries will be “massively disruptive” to conventional generation, PV Magazine. NextEra CEO Jim Robo’s exact math is that even after the federal tax credits expire, wind will be
2 – 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, large-scale solar will be 2.5 – 3 cents, and storage will add .5 – 1 cent. This would put these resources slightly below the current cost of natural gas-fired generation, without the
uncertainty around fuel prices that is inherent to gas.

Fremont’s Community Solar Farm in final approval stage

By Sam Pimper, Fremont Tribune

The farm itself will encompass approximately 5 of the 10-acre plot being developed. The Community Solar farm would consist of approximately 3,900 panels, and anybody who is a customer of the Fremont Department of Utilities would have the opportunity to purchase solar shares that would cover up to 80 percent of their used Kilowatt-hours. Currently, more than 40-percent of the farm has been sold, with nearly 50 percent of signups happening within two weeks. Read more here.

Photo: Dodge County Courthouse. Credit: Chris Bristol

ALSO IN TODAY’S NEWS

NextEra lines up GE in Nebraska, ReNews
Nebraska working to catch up on wind energy, KETV
Nebraska’s wind energy increases, The North Platte Bulletin
What they’re saying: US Conference of Mayors passes 100% renewable resolution, Into the Wind, the American Wind Energy Association Blog