St. Cloud Planning One of the Largest Community Solar Projects in the Country

ST. CLOUD - A major solar energy project is moving forward in St. Cloud. During their meeting tonight (Monday) the city council approved a plan to begin final negotiations for Solar Subscription agreements with SunEdison.

It will be one of the largest solar projects for a municipality in the entire country. So that will be really great to market to current residents of the city, and to visitors. So it will really put St. Cloud on the map.

A SunEdison company spokeswoman says the first project includes subscribing to Community Solar Gardens in Stearns County.

The second is building Solar Gardens on city-owned property; two areas identified are the St. Augusta Landfill and the Wastewater Treatment facility.

And the third project is to install solar panels on the rooftops of city buildings; such as the fire station, library, and the Convention Center.

A fourth project would install a solar system for the Wastewater Treatment Facility to use.

The solar projects have the potential to save the city nearly $339,000 next year, and $27 million over the next 25 years.