Big Lakes County Council is pleased to announce that the County Shop Solar Project was commissioned on October 20, 2020 and is now producing power.
This project was funded in part by the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre (MCCAC), a partnership of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) and Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA). The County was able to access over 41% of the money required through the Alberta Municipal Solar Program, offered through the MCCAC. Other grant funding was provided through the Federal Gas Tax fund.
“Council is very proud and grateful for the opportunity MCCAC, AUMA, and the RMA have provided to us in approving the grant funding for the solar farm,” said Big Lakes County Reeve Matthews. “This opportunity is a large part of building sustainability and adopting a clean energy future for Big Lakes County.
Big Lakes County’s mission is “building a sustainable municipality.” Sustainability is a broad goal, but it includes being mindful of the resources we use – both physical and financial. We project that these solar panels will offset our electricity use for the office and shop for the next 30 years and will even turn a profit.”
The main objective of the solar farm is to reduce the cost of the direct energy used by the County. The solar farm produces the electricity used by the shop and office, and on sunny days the surplus electricity is sold back into the grid. Over time the credits that Big Lakes County will receive for selling electricity back to the grid will more than pay for the cost of the panels themselves.
For real-time information on Big Lakes County’s electricity generation, please see https://easyview.auroravision.net/easyview/index.html?entityId=24976086.
Contact:
Contact Victoria Zahacy, Communications Coordinator
[email protected] or (780) 523 5955