A couple weeks ago I went before the Plymouth City Council to give up an update on the Complete Streets Committee’s tactical urbanism project, which aimed to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety at a critical juncture in the city’s greenways trail.
While I was there, I was happy to watch the City approve a $1.6M, 1.0 MW solar energy system with Telemon Energy that will power the city’s water reclamation facility (aka wastewater plant). Construction is expected to start in the spring of next year.
This would have been the largest solar energy system in the county… had Bremen’s new 35 acre, 6.75 MW project not already started construction!
Once this system is installed, Plymouth’s per capita solar energy capacity will be nearly on par with Denver, CO, which is 10th in the nation among major U.S. cities!
With these new systems coming online, that will push our solar installations back to merely 4th largest in the county. Which, of course, is what I want! A friendly solar competition is the best kind of competition.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
If that were not enough, Wednesday night the Plymouth Community School Corporation approved a deal for solar systems at two schools, also with Telemon Energy. The news stories I saw didn’t mention exact size, but judging by the aerial it looks to be in the ballpark of 700 kW (0.7 MW).
By 2022, Marshall County will have solar energy installations at a school corporation, a City, an electric cooperative, a private industry, a County facility, a non-profit, a college, and multiple residences. Coming soon we will also see pretty enormous utility-scale projects as well. It is indeed an interesting time to be alive.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the county is about to have it’s first fast charger for electric cars come online (DCFC, or Direct Current Fast Charger):
If you’ve been feeling a little dreary about the headlines, read this piece for some optimism about what technology has the potential to bring us, with a major component of that being the energy transition that is unfolding right now.
Adam, you may not remember me but we attended IWU together. As a native of Marshall County, though living elsewhere, still a citizen of the Hoosier state, and an observer of our world community this was a very encouraging post. So much bad news in the world, thanks for showing where the light is shining!
Glenn,
I really appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment! Plymouth/Marshall Co is my adopted hometown (and now my children’s hometown). I’m glad to report there are lots of great people here… we just have to work together to keep pushing for change.
Thanks
Thank you Adam for sharing and informing.