United Renewable Energy and New Energy Equity Complete 4.3 MW of Community Solar Gardens in Minnesota

United Renewable Energy® (URE)®, a national Engineering, Procurement, and Construction provider, worked together with their development partner, New Energy Equity (New Energy), to add three new community solar gardens to Minnesota's solar development portfolio. The three projects, located in North Branch, Lindstrom, and Cokato and totaling more than 4.3 MW DC, are together expected to produce 5,980 MWh of clean energy in their first year. This amount of clean energy is sufficient to power approximately six hundred average homes and will be offered to local businesses and school districts by subscription. Subscribers will receive bill credits from the utility for the energy produced by the gardens, giving them the benefits of solar energy with no equipment purchase, maintenance, or solar panels required on their own premises.  

New Energy Equity has developed over 130 projects in Minnesota, totaling more than 160 MW, in the state. In conjunction with their partnership with New Energy Equity, United Renewable Energy has constructed more than 40 MW's of projects in MN.

URE was responsible for the engineering, procurement, and construction on these projects. "We are focused on providing the safest, highest quality, and lowest overall cost solar and energy storage installations. This portfolio of projects with New Energy Equity is a great example of a successful partnership that provides ongoing benefits to the host communities and subscribers," said Keith Herbs, Executive Vice President of URE. Additionally, Kenyon Energy, one of the nation's leading developer, owner and operator of solar energy projects, will supply permanent financing for the projects.

New Energy Equity developed the three community solar gardens. "We are proud to be a leading developer in Minnesota's ongoing transformation of its energy system toward cleaner and more cost-effective energy, helping the State and our solar garden customers to all achieve their respective sustainability goals," says Matthew Hankey, President and CEO of New Energy Equity.

In addition to these three successful projects, the URE and New Energy teams have collaborated on a pipeline of additional MN Community Solar Gardens that will be constructed in 2021 and 2022 that will support additional construction jobs and low-cost, clean energy for the region.