URBANA, Ill. (WAND) — Urbana City Council has approved new ways for Ameren customers in the city to save on their monthly energy bill.
Urbana City Council approved a special use permit Monday night for Total Energies, which will build a solar farm on a closed landfill currently owned by the City. The closed landfill already houses solar panels that create 5.3 MW of Community Solar Power.
This second solar farm will be a market-rate community solar array, meaning that residents in Ameren's territory can subscribe to be part of the program. The panels are targeted to be 4.3 MW of solar power.
Scott Tess, the Sustainability and Resilience Officer for Urbana, explained that by subscribing to the community solar array, Ameren customers can get a discounted price on energy.
"Most community solar subscriptions are priced to be five or 10% lower than the default electricity supply option, whatever it happens to be published at. So the price moves, but it always moves a little bit less than the default supply option," Tess said. Income-qualified households are eligible for an even lower rate.
State law allows that there be one designated "anchor tenant" that provides consumers with a chunk of the energy. The "anchor tenant" for the existing panels is City Hall. The new set of panels will help power the library. However, the rest can be purchased out by residential properties.
But Tess said the new panels will bring much more than energy to the city.
"We're stacking four things together for benefits together at once. We're getting more clean, renewable electricity. We're getting new tax revenue. We're getting new lease revenue. And the developer will manage the mowing of the lawn on the site," Tess said.
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