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Grow Solar group-buy discussed; Onalaska asked to consider partnership
Summary
La Crosse County and Midwest Renewable Energy Association outlined a Grow Solar solar group-buy program and asked the Onalaska council to consider participating and helping promote the effort; no binding commitment was taken.
La Crosse County and the Midwest Renewable Energy Association described a Grow Solar group-buy program to the Onalaska Common Council on March 11 and asked the city to consider joining as a partner and assisting with outreach.
The Grow Solar model seeks to lower installation prices by aggregating demand and running a competitive bid for local qualified installers, County community development manager Charlie Handy said. "The solar group buy is basically, there's there's not an investment financially, locally. It the investment is really in advertising and marketing and, support," Handy said, describing staff time for outreach and vetting of contractors.
Handy, who said the county ran a similar program in 2020, said the benefit was increased individual solar permitting after the campaign even when few residents joined the group-buy directly. "What we did see almost immediately upon conclusion of the project is the number of permits in La Crosse County for solar projects skyrocketed," he said. He added the county has vetted the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) as the program partner and that MREA will run an RFP for installers.
Council members asked about staff time and the nature of the city commitment. Alder Knott requested an estimate of staff hours to handle website questions, promotion and cohosting; Alder Stevens asked who in the city would manage duties and whether staff capacity exists. City Administrator Rick Niemeyer said duties might be divided across planning, communications and other staff and that staff time is expected to be manageable.
Timing: Handy said the county hoped to run the program later this year and that Onalaska would likely have about a month to decide whether to participate. The council did not take a vote and did not commit; staff planned to follow up with MREA and the county and bring more detail on staff duties and timing to a future meeting.
Ending: Councilors asked staff to return with more precise estimates of required staff time and a recommended participation commitment before making a formal decision.
