By Madison Gas and Electric

 Nearly 300 local households are part of MGE’s Shared Solar community. Now the program is prepared to welcome small and medium-sized businesses.

MGE is seeking to expand our community solar program, Shared Solar, with a second solar installation. Customers who subscribe to Shared Solar receive up to half their annual electric use through the program, which offers customers locally generated solar energy. Previously, the program was open only to residential customers.

“Shared Solar is a great option for business owners who want to fuel their business with clean energy but cannot or choose not to install solar themselves,” said Cheri Salmon, MGE market development manager.

MGE’s Shared Solar program launched in early 2017. The City of Middleton and MGE partnered to place a 500-kilowatt array on the roof of the city’s Municipal Operations Center. The program sold out quickly. An expansion of the program with a second, large-scale solar installation will allow more customers to participate and advance shared energy goals for our community. 

“Shared Solar offers customers solar energy at minimal upfront cost, and it is clean energy generated right here in the communities we serve,” said Salmon.

The solar project will be built in partnership with the City of Middleton at the Middleton Municipal Airport, also known as Morey Field. Construction is expected this summer with the array expected to be operational in fall.

MGE is building a waiting list of interested residential and business customers. Those on the waiting list will be among the first to learn details about the program’s expansion. If you would like to join our “Worth Waiting For” list, visit mge.com/sharedsolar.

Shared Solar makes it easy to power your home or business with renewable energy. Subscribers pay a one-time upfront fee to participate and a fixed-rate per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for up to half of their annual electricity use.

For customers who sign up for Shared Solar but would like to power their home or business with 100% renewable energy, MGE also offers our Green Power Tomorrow program (GPT). Subscribers to GPT pay one cent more per kWh to receive a percentage or specific dollar amount of their electricity from wind and solar resources in our region. MGE residential and business customers can sign up to purchase a percentage (1%‒100%) of their monthly electricity use through GPT; or, since electricity use can vary, customers can choose instead to purchase a specific dollar amount of GPT electricity each month. To sign up or to get more information, visit mge.com/GPT.