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Company proposes 7.5 MW community solar on city land; developer says facility could power ~5,000 homes
Summary
Harvest Renewables proposed leasing or buying roughly 30 acres of city land on South Route 45 for a 7.5 MW DC community solar project, with a typical 12–24 month development timeline and an estimated 25-year useful life; company said city residents would have subscription priority.
A community solar developer outlined plans to build a roughly 7.5-megawatt direct-current community solar facility on city-owned property south of Effingham during the Dec. 17 council meeting.
"My name is Jamal Bator. I'm the founder and owner of Harvest Renewables," the presenter said. He described Harvest as a community-solar developer with a partnership in place with Madison Energy Infrastructure and said the proposed project would connect to nearby transmission lines.
Bator told the council the development would occupy about 30 acres, take roughly 12 to 24 months to develop, and have a useful life of about 25 years. "That could power, I wanna say close to about, around 5,000 homes," he said when asked to give a home-equivalent estimate for a 7.5 MW DC facility.
Bator said the project would operate as a community-solar subscription program in which city residents and businesses would be first in line to subscribe; if local subscribers do not fully fill the capacity, subscriptions can be opened to other nearby communities. He said Harvest currently has roughly 45 MW in its pipeline, including projects elsewhere in Illinois.
City staff clarified this proposal may take the form of a lease or sale depending on final negotiations; previously the city has participated in community-solar programs on other facilities. Council members asked about savings and timing; staff noted prior city purchases yielded early-subscriber benefits in past programs but made no commitment to any financial terms.
Next steps: staff indicated the proposal would proceed through the city—s economic-development and land-use review processes and that council would see additional materials as negotiations and due diligence progress.
