Illinois electric co-op to receive grant for renewable energy project

Adams Electric Cooperative's Green Energy Project was selected as one of 19 community-led clean energy projects across 12 states and 13 tribal nations and communities to receive more than $78 million to develop and deploy sustainable clean energy solutions and expand access to reliable and affordable energy in rural and remote communities across the country.

Headquartered in Camp Point, Adams Electric was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations to begin award negotiations for up to $5 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding as part of the Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) program.

The co-op's project involves installing a 1 MW wind turbine and a 1 MW solar PV array in Schuyler County. The two types of generation complement each other with solar generation being better in the summertime and wind generation in the wintertime.

The two facilities should produce approximately 3.6M kWhs per year or about 300 homes' energy needs. The project will ultimately benefit the co-op's consumer-members in Adams, Brown, Schuyler, Hancock, McDonough, Pike and Fulton counties by reducing energy costs, while potentially reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 40,000 tons each year.

Adams Electric plans to hire local contractors for construction and maintenance to generate jobs in the community. With the addition of a wind turbine in the eastern part of its territory and its first solar array, the cooperative looks forward to expanding its offering of educational tours to co-op and community members, students and youth organizations.

To learn more about the ERA program and projects selected for award negotiations, go to energy.gov/oced/era.