ROCKFORD, Ill. (Rockford News First) – A Rockford solar project celebrated its first anniversary in the community, marking almost $200,000 in energy savings for residents and businesses.
Summit Ridge Energy, Trajectory Energy Partners and ComEd partnered on the 35 acres of solar panels.
“This is one of the first community-driven, community solar projects in the state of Illinois. It’s certainly the first in Winnebago County, which is unique in that we get to provide savings not only to commercial customers but to low-income customers,” Steve Raeder, the CEO of Summit Ridge Energy, said.
They rededicated the space Wednesday morning, naming it after co-founder of Summit Ridge Energy, the late Mark Raeder, while shining a light on how the technology saves money for hundreds of residents and a major hospital system.
The 20,000 solar panels are nestled in the middle of farms just off W. State Street and power homes and a portion of OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center.
“We’re able to generate 3.7 million kilowatt hours of electricity and that accounts for about 24% of our electricity utilization and we realize about $70,000 in annual cost savings from this program,” Diego Lopez, the Vice President of Outpatient at the hospital, said.
It provides energy for hundreds of homes. In fact, the company shares that 20% of the neighbors welcomed cuts to their energy bills.
“Costs are going down because of this project and families. The burden is lifted off of them because of this. Up to about 690 homes are already seeing savings,” Rockford’s 13th Ward Alderman, Tamir Bell, said.
Raeder also provided more details on what changes residents are seeing to their bills.
“Specifically, 50% on their electricity bill every month, which is big. It’s very meaningful, especially with electricity rates going up, rising pretty much across the country,” Raeder said. “The community’s been fantastic. The partners that we’ve worked with to make this a reality have been fantastic. I think we’d like to do more in the surrounding area.”
The project plans to push Winnebago County and Illinois to the top of the list of places to take on renewable energy projects.
“The Illinois state legislature has been extremely supportive of solar and renewable energy programs across the country. Really, the state of Illinois has become the leader over the last five years or so,” Raeder said.
For OSF, it says the switch takes the focus off energy costs and allows the health system to focus more on patients.
“This is the most impactful, particularly for Saint Anthony Medical Center. Our renewability, they’re involved in a lot of projects across the region, but this is absolutely the most impactful one in the Rockford region,” Lopez said.
Citing the success of this project and renewable energy locally, City of Rockford leaders hope more energy-efficient efforts are on their way.
“I think it’s really important that our community continue to support solar development as we continue to move through trying times,” Bell said.
$160,000 in energy costs were saved across the board in the past year as a result of the project.
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