Mercer County community solar project powers homes and delivers community impact

VIOLA, Ill. (KWQC) - A solar array is powering 850 homes and businesses and is projected to deliver $5.8 million in community benefits.

Cultivate Power and Generate Capital have completed the Goldenrod Solar Project in Mercer County, Illinois. The 38-acre solar array is expected to deliver that $5.8 million over the next 15 years.

Project manager Seth Bishop thinks it’s a model to bring relief to several communities.

“It’s one of the cheapest renewable energy sources out there, and it’s not just renewables but energy altogether. It’s free power that you’re able to harness from the sun, so there’s an unlimited resource there, and it just creates a well-balanced infrastructure for everyone involved,” Bishop said. “Essentially, everyone who lives within the state is reaping some sort of benefit from this.”

The project, which supports low- and moderate-income households, is part of the Illinois Shines Community-Driven Community Solar initiative.

The project offers 850 local solar subscribers up to $3.6 million in lower energy costs through 10-20% electricity bill savings. Subscribers live in Mercer County and surrounding counties, joining the project at no cost.

Cultivate Power and Generate Capital has committed $600,000 in scholarships, grants, and contributions to local Mercer County organizations over the next 12 years.

Beneficiaries include Black Hawk College Foundation, Greene Township Fire Protection District, Sherrard High School and Mercer County High School Future Farmers of America chapters, Living Lands & Waters and Mercer County Better Together.

“We feel really good and grateful about it. I think it’s a great thing that they’re doing for us, and it will help spark more interest in agriculture and help people understand what agriculture truly is, which is very important in our everyday lives,” Hannah Schmidt, Sherrard High School FFA member, said.

Other community benefits include property tax payments estimated that officials say should to exceed $360,000 in the first 15 years of the project’s life, which benefits Sherrard CUSD 200, Greene Fire Protection District, and the Viola Public Library District.

The foundation has already graduated 50 students funded by the Goldenrod project from three-month intensive training programs and helped place 40 of them into solar industry jobs, something that the executive director of the Evolve Foundation, Jacqueline Maclachlan, says you can’t put a price tag on.

“We know that this is not just a moral imperative; it’s a functional necessity to keep our grid running and to keep clean, accessible energy ready for everyone,” Maclachlan said.

Goldenrod Solar Project is located on a 38-acre portion of a 250-acre property owned by Bob and Annette Essary, who live on the property in a home they built 26 years ago.

They say they are happy to house a project that gives back.

“We felt like we needed to do something a little more to give back, so we weighed everything out and ended up going with solar as the safest for the land and that whole environment,” Robert Essary Sr. said.

A portion of the project is made possible through the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), passed by the Illinois State Legislature in 2021, which supports clean energy industry job training and business growth.