St. Charles wins bid to be solar energy pioneer

St. Charles beat out all the competition in its bid to be the pioneer site for a solar energy facility overseen by the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency.

The city was the only one chosen out of a 32-member nonprofit to become the host site of a 600-kilowatt solar plant that may give residents direct access to a green energy source for the first time.

Tom Bruhl, St. Charles' electric services manager, told aldermen the electric agency board unanimously approved St. Charles at its most recent meeting. Now the plan will move forward at a rapid pace to match a timeline that would see construction of the facility this fall and power production as soon as the first quarter of 2016.

"The technical issues are done," Bruhl said. "Now it's just a matter of contract issues."

The project already went out to bid and received 11 responses for the design, finance, construction, ownership, operation and maintenance of the facility over the next 20 years. The agreement includes the sale of all the energy produced by the facility to Illinois Municipal Electric Agency for a defined per-megawatt rate. St. Charles would get first crack at any power generated.

The cost of the power will depend on which bidder agency officials select. Proposals ranged from $60 per megawatt hour at a 2 percent annual escalation to $186 per megawatt hour with no annual escalation, according to the most recent Illinois Municipal Electric Agency member newsletter. The bids showed the facility will generate between 600 and 850 megawatts per hour in the first year.

Bruhl said the agency's staff has already targeted one bidder in particular with which to pursue negotiations. Assuming a successful outcome, the facility will be built on a 2.3-acre portion of a 5-acre parcel the city owns near Kirk and Tyler roads. The agency will lease the portion of the site from the city for the project.

The remaining land at the location is the intended future site of an electric transmission tower. Bruhl is on record that the tower should not be needed any time in the next 20 years. Bruhl pitched the project to city officials this year as a way to put the otherwise vacant site to use. The city won't incur any ownership, maintenance or construction costs related to the project.