(February 25, 2016) Wisconsin’s Dairyland Power Cooperative and its member cooperatives announced a historic investment in solar energy on Wednesday unveiling plans to build more than 15 megawatts of new solar energy at 12 locations across Wisconsin.

The announced projects will nearly the double the amount of solar power installed in Wisconsin, which now has about 25 megawatts of installed solar. The projects will be built by solar developers SoCore Energy, based in Chicago and groSolar based in White River Junction, Vermont. Together the installations will create enough electricity for more than 2500 homes.

“Wisconsin’s electric cooperatives are now national and state leaders for solar energy,” said Andy Olsen, Senior Policy Advocate of the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Madison. “Dairyland was clear that this effort grew out of support for solar from their members, commitment to diversifying their generation and stabilizing costs.”

Brad Klein, Senior Attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center, said the Dairyland announcement sends a strong signal to rural electric cooperatives across the Midwest. “The enormous potential for solar energy in states like Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois is just now beginning to be realized, and rural electric cooperatives, which have strong relationships with their members, have an opportunity to lead the way.”

The Dairyland solar initiative will total 15.5 MW in total, from 12 installations across their Wisconsin service territory. Below is a listing of project locations and sizes:

• Phillips, Wis., 2.5 MW (Price Electric Cooperative)
• Viola, Wis., .5 MW (Richland Electric Cooperative)
• Roberts, Wis., 2 MW (St. Croix Electric Cooperative)
• Conrath, Wis., 1 MW (Jump River Electric Cooperative)
• Necedah, Wis., 1.5 MW (Oakdale Electric Cooperative)
• Menomonie, Wis., 1 MW (Dunn Energy Cooperative)
• Medford, Wis., 2 MW (Taylor Electric Cooperative)
• Liberty Pole, Wis., 1 MW (Vernon Electric Cooperative)
• Hillsboro, Wis., 1 MW (Vernon Electric Cooperative)
• Town of Hallie, Wis., 1 MW (Eau Claire Energy Cooperative)
• Eastman, Wis., 1 MW (Scenic Rivers Energy Cooperative)
• Arcadia, Wis., 1 MW (Riverland Energy Cooperative)