RENEW Wisconsin
Press Release

Solar Power Hits the Big Time in Wisconsin

Newest Large Array Energizes Waukesha County Manufacturer

By - Jan 14th, 2016 10:51 am

In yet another demonstration of solar energy’s growing appeal to commercial and industrial customers, Letterhead Press recently joined the growing roster of Wisconsin companies turning to the sun to power their operations.

Located in New Berlin, Letterhead Press now derives about 25% of the electricity consumed at its 120,000-square foot facility on Ryerson Road from a 300 kilowatt (AC) solar array. Situated on a parking lot behind the production facility, Letterhead’s array was the fourth largest solar system installed in Wisconsin last year (see table below), and is now the largest in Waukesha County.

The facility was dedicated Tuesday at an event organized by Letterhead Press and featuring remarks from Letterhead Press CEO Mike Graf, Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow, New Berlin Mayor Dave Ament, Sun Peak (the solar project developer and contractor), Focus on Energy, the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, and RENEW Wisconsin.

“2015 was a banner year for solar generation in the Badger State,” said RENEW Wisconsin’s Executive Director Tyler Huebner. “Growth was especially strong among larger customers looking to take advantage of solar power’s declining costs to help them control their escalating energy expenses.”

Solar was the fastest growing generation resource in Wisconsin in 2015, expanding from 18 megawatts (MW) at the beginning of the year to more than 25 MW at year’s end. Solar power expanded even more vigorously elsewhere in the United States, with 7,500 MW–the equivalent of Wisconsin’s increase 1,000 times over–coming on line last year.

In addition to being a cost-effective source of electricity for business and institutional customers, solar power supports a national industry that employs more than 208,000 people, according to the most recent solar jobs report conducted by The Solar Foundation. Solar industry employment grew 12 times faster than the overall U.S. workforce. About 1,900 solar jobs are located in Wisconsin, according to the previous year’s report.

Letterhead Press will be one of several dozen solar generation owners recognized at RENEW Wisconsin’s fifth annual Renewable Energy Policy Summit set for Thursday, January 21, 2016, at Monona Terrace in Madison. The theme of the event, “Shaping the Utility of the Future,” will delve into the rapidly changing electric utility environment and examine business models under which utilities and customers can work bring more clean energy into the Wisconsin energy mix.

For more information on the 2016 summit program agenda, speakers, and registration, please visit   http://renewwisconsin.org/2016_Summit/

31 Largest Solar Electric Systems Installed in Wisconsin in 2015
Customer Location Utility Project Size (in kWDC) Contractor (location)
Forest County Potawatomi Crandon (15 locations), Milwaukee WPS, We Energies 922 SunVest Solar(Pewaukee)
Eau Claire Energy Cooperative Fall Creek ECEC 863 Able Energy (River Falls)
Central Storage Warehouse Madison Madison Gas & Electric 741 SunPeak(Madison)
Letterhead Press New Berlin We Energies 337 SunPeak
Rockwell Automation Mequon We Energies 263 H&H Solar(Madison)
River Falls Utilities River Falls RFU (muni) 250 H&H Solar
New Richmond Utilities New Richmond NRU (muni) 250 H&H Solar
Sisters of St. Agnes Fond du Lac Alliant-WPL 248 Eland Electric(Green Bay)
Darlington School District Darlington Alliant-WPL 156 SunVest Solar
O&H Danish Bakery Mt. Pleasant We Energies 152 SunVest Solar
Crystal Ball Farms Osceola Xcel-NSPW 151 Next Energy Solution (Spooner)
Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company Neenah We Energies 128.5 Energize, LLC (Winneconne)
Stieglitz Dairy Greenwood Clark Electric Cooperative 105.3 Next Energy Solution
Central Waters Brewery Amherst Alliant-WPL 100.8 North Wind RE (Stevens Point)
Blenker Building Systems Amherst Alliant-WPL 100.8 North Wind RE
Taylor Electric Cooperative Medford Taylor 100 10K Solar/ Viking Electric
Isthmus Engineering Madison MG&E 99.5 H&H Solar
Precision Plus Elkhorn Elkhorn (muni) 99 Kettle View RE (Silver Creek)
Animart Beaver Dam Alliant-WPL 99 Kettle View RE
Organic Valley Cashton Cashton (muni) 95 Full Spectrum Solar (Madison)
Corrim Company Oshkosh WI Public Service 92 SunPeak
Components Company Brookfield We Energies 78 Convergence Energy (Lake Geneva)
Parmenter Circle Apts. Middleton MG&E 72 Full Spectrum Solar
Oregon Middle School Oregon Alliant 62 Full Spectrum Solar
Outpost Nat’l Foods Mequon We Energies 56.3 SunVest Solar
Evergreen Credit Union Neenah We Energies 56 Eland Electric
Clark Electric Cooperative Greenwood Clark Electric 53.3 10K Solar/ Viking Electric (MN)
Excel Patterns Bonduel We Energies 50.4 Eland Electric
Infinity Retail Services Turtle Lake Xcel-NSPW 50 Kettle View RE
Borah Teamwear Coon Valley Xcel-NSPW 49 Ethos Green Power (Viroqua)
Reynolds Storage and Transfer Madison MG&E 48 SunPeak

Prepared by: RENEW Wisconsin, January 2016

RENEW Wisconsin leads and accelerates the transformation to Wisconsin’s renewable energy future through advocacy, education, and collaboration. More information on RENEW’s Web site at www.renewwisconsin.org.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

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