BRIMFIELD (25News Now) – The Jubilee Solar Project, located next to Brimfield High School, is Illinois’ first community solar farm built on public school property.
In a partnership with Brimfield Community Unit School District and Trajectory Energy Partners, 5,400 solar panels were built on about nine acres of land. Superintendent Chad Jones said the panels will help save the school district more than $22,000 a year on energy bills.
“Costs just keep going up,” he said. “Any time you can potentially save money in the future by having this project, then, of course, I think every school district would be interested in doing it.”
Jones said not only will the district be able to use the extra money for other school projects and needs, but the people living in Brimfield can benefit from it, too.
“Even if they don’t have solar panels on their home, and if they do have solar panels on their home, on their roof or on their property somewhere, they sign up as a subscriber, and they receive a benefit of lowering their power bills even more,” he said.
Trajectory Energy Partners Senior Project Development Manager Kiersten Sheets said people can save up to 15% on their Ameren bills by subscribing to the free program called the Illinois Shines Program. There are already more than 200 subscribers in Brimfield, filling all available slots.
Sheets said the project is also helping to provide more power to the electric grid.
“We are looking to stabilize our grid more as we close energy-producing plants across the state,” she said. “We need to add more energy to provide more capacity across the state.”
Sheets said the solar farm is making the school district money and adding to the local economy.
“For a school district like Brimfield, it brings utility savings, new tax revenue on land they were previously not earning any tax revenue on, and lease payments,” she said.
She said she hopes the project can soon be replicated at other facilities across the state, benefitting more communities and the environment.
“Some small businesses, school districts, park districts, government buildings, even large nonprofits, hospitals, and churches can also be anchor subscribers to a project,” Sheets said.
You can watch 25News – any newscast, anywhere – streaming LIVE on 25NewsNow.com, our 25News mobile app, and on our WEEK 25News SmartTV streaming app. Learn more about how you can get connected to 25News streaming live news here.
Copyright 2025 WEEK. All rights reserved.

source