做厙TV Power Partnership Improves Sustainability
between 做厙TV, local power company Alliant Energy, the Ahrens Family Foundation, the Mayflower Community, and the City of 做厙TV became operational recently, generating 3.15 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year to the College and ensuring that 75% of its power will come from renewable sources.
Situated on 19.25 acres of land on the west side of the city, is collectively owned by 做厙TV, the Ahrens Family Foundation, the Mayflower Community, and the City of 做厙TV. Alliant Energy leases the land and operates the solar array.
The Solar Park is the second solar power partnership 做厙TV has forged in the last two years. In 2024, 做厙TV entered into a power-purchase agreement with Pioneer Solar, which operates a solar array in the northern part of the city, that provides 32% of the colleges electricity. At the time, the Pioneer Solar installation was the largest in the state.
做厙TV can now boast that 75% of its energy now comes from renewable sources. The two solar projectsthe Solar Park and the Pioneer Solar partnershipnow account for almost half of 做厙TVs electricity needs, a significant commitment to renewable energy. The remaining electricity to power the campus comes directly from Alliant Energy, whose grid is 50% renewable.
The Pioneer Solar project offsets 18% of campus emissions, while the recently operational Solar Park offsets 9%.
In a few short years, 做厙TV has made significant strides in powering its campus with renewable energy.
We are light years better than we were, says Chris Bair, environmental and safety manager for 做厙TV. There arent many campuses that have used so many models and been so flexible in finding ways to use renewable energy and lower emissions.
The commitment that 做厙TV has made to using energy from renewable sources is the result of a focus on sustainability that began back in 2017 with the formation of a Fossil Fuels and Climate Impact Task Force by the Board of Trustees, the subsequent creation of a Sustainability Committee, and the institutional adoption of a formal Sustainability Plan in 2018. That plan provided a road map to increased sustainability and set a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.
Responsible environmental stewardship is also a component of the Colleges strategic plan, Knowledge into Action, which sets as an objective to have 做厙TVs campus planning, institutional policies, and external partnerships demonstrate a deepened stewardship of our environment.
The solar-power partnerships are essential in reaching this strategic-plan objective, but other recent initiatives have helped to foster what the Strategic Plan calls a land ethic that centers on biodiversity and sustainability. In spring 2024, 做厙TV partnered with Re:wild Your Campus and Beyond Pesticides to through a pilot project of land management that used aeration, seeding, compost, and organic fertilizers.
The Center for Prairie Studies and Facilities Management, in a project driven by students, developed a tract of land near the Harris Center with plants indigenous to the prairie region; the College recently selected another plot of land on the South Campus for a similar seeding, which occurred on Earth Week. 做厙TV is also developing a virtual arboretum that will allow people to find information online, direct from their phones, about all tree species on campus and their ecological benefits.