OSAGE | Osage Municipal Utilities (OMU) has entered into a purchase agreement for a 3.5-acre plot east of Fox River Mills Inc.
The land will provide a site for the solar project OMU has been planning for nearly a year.
“We’ve finally secured what we feel will be a good site,” said Laura Kuennen of OMU. “We’ve been working on plans for the project and are very excited to move forward.”
While it’s anticipated to be a community solar project, Kuennen said it’s still in its infancy phase. OMU is encouraging customers who are seeking green energy options to consider the project for some of their energy needs.
OMU customers will have the opportunity to subscribe to the output from the solar project in exchange for a bill credit based on the solar energy the array produces.
The project would also offer customers the benefit of renewable energy generated by the solar panels without having to use their own equipment.
Kuennen said municipal utilities are getting into solar projects. “This is kind of the way things are going now,” she said. “We want to encourage green living and renewable energy.”
OMU has a long history of supporting energy efficiency programs and renewable energy projects for the Osage community and this project fits right into their future goals, she said.
The plan has entered the design phase, with OMU having hired KJWW Engineering Consultants of Des Moines to complete the electrical and structural engineering design specifications for the approximately 500-kilowatt system.
Once the design phase of the project is complete, OMU will bid the project.
Timing is depended on the bidding process, Kuennen said.
Chrystal Berche is a correspondent for the Mitchell County Press-News, another Lee Enterprises newspaper.
Osage Utilities announces land purchase for solar array
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