Counting on the sun for another 400+ megawatts of energy in Wisconsin

Alliant Energy announces plans to add six more solar projects in the Badger state.

MADISON, Wis., March 31, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Alliant Energy (NASDAQ: LNT) announces plans to add another 414 megawatts (MW) of solar in Wisconsin. This rounds out the company’s previously announced plan to accelerate its transition to clean energy by adding more than 1,000 MW of solar while helping customers avoid more than $2 billion in long-term costs. Upon completion of their more than 1,000 MW of solar, Alliant Energy will own and operate the most solar energy in the state of Wisconsin.

“Guided by our purpose-driven strategy to serve customers and build strong communities, we are accelerating our transition to cleaner energy,” stated David de Leon, President of Alliant Energy's Wisconsin energy company. “This continued transition is a smart investment, benefitting our customers long-term, while also creating hundreds of jobs across the state and providing local communities with shared-revenues.”

The six new projects will be developed in mostly rural parts of Dodge, Grant, Green, Rock and Waushara counties. Once the projects are operational, local communities will receive an estimated $50 million in shared revenues – for the next 30 years – to use in a variety of ways, such as funding local fire departments, investing in school programs and upgrading park facilities. Additionally, local landowners will receive a combined $60 million in lease payments over 30 years.

The additional projects, five of which are being self-developed by Alliant Energy, are expected to create more than 800 local construction jobs across the five counties. They include:

Solar Project Name	County	Size
Albany	Green	50 megawatts
Beaver Dam	Dodge	50 megawatts
Cassville	Grant	50 megawatts
Paddock	Rock	65 megawatts
Springfield (under development by National Grid Renewables)	Dodge	100 megawatts
Wautoma	Waushara	99 megawatts

“This provides tremendous potential for these communities,” said Mike Koles, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Towns Association. “Based on research and dialogue with our members that have partnered with Alliant Energy on previous solar projects, we’ve concluded that Alliant Energy’s development process has been overwhelmingly positive and illustrates model developer behavior that should be mimicked in future solar project planning.”