South Street Solar with Middlebury College and Green Mountain Power

Encore worked with Middlebury College and Green Mountain Power on a special contract to allow the College to procure clean energy benefits from a locally generated source of electricity. This includes renewable energy credits that will support the advancement of the College’s Energy 2028 plan, which includes a commitment to using 100% renewable energy. Green Mountain Power is interested in using this project as the pilot project for a larger effort to provide larger electrical customers in GMP service territory with a means to procure meaningful amounts of clean energy and clean energy attributes outside of the State’s net metering program, which is capped at 500kW per project and per customer. The 5MW solar project will be accompanied by a 2MW lithium-ion battery to provide additional energy security and resiliency improvements for the Middlebury area.

Higher education institutions like Middlebury represent an emerging market for renewable energy. Colleges and universities spend between $6 billion and $7 billion each year on energy and utilities, about three-quarters of which is directed toward electricity generation, transmission, and use. Transitioning to renewable and sustainable energy for power generation with solar power and energy storage offers an economic opportunity in addition to allowing these academic institutions to meet their sustainability goals.