Green Bay authorizes mayor to finalize lease with 1 Energy Renewables for potential 5–6 MW solar array

The Green Bay Common Council authorized the mayor on Feb. 3 to finalize a lease and solar easement with 1 Energy Development LLC for city-owned Parcel 22-SC-513, subject to terms discussed in closed session.

The council opened public discussion on the finance committee item and heard a presentation from Nolan Sumpf, project manager with 1 Energy Renewables, who described a community-scale distributed-generation solar project sited near a substation along Algoma Road (Highway 54). Sumpf said desktop and environmental screenings show the parcel is suitable for a project likely in the 5–6 megawatt range, using bifacial single-axis tracking panels mounted on steel piles. Sumpf noted the developer’s preference for minimal grading, native prairie seed mixes beneath arrays for pollinator habitat, and the long-term requirement that equipment be removed and the site restored at end of life.

Sumpf said the state’s utility aid payments provide roughly $5,000 per megawatt split between the host city and county; for a 6 MW project he estimated about $17,000 to the city and $13,000 to the county annually. He also said local contractors (many unionized) frequently perform engineering and construction work and that developer budgets are tight: interconnection and geotechnical unknowns affect the feasible lease rate the developer can offer.

Councilors asked about contractor labor, panel lifespan (30‑year warranty), interconnection study timing and access across wetlands to the substation. Sumpf said an interconnection study and soil borings are not permitted until a lease is signed, creating a level of budgetary uncertainty for the developer. Several alderpersons suggested the proximity to a substation might justify a higher lease rate, but Sumpf said access constraints and unknown interconnection costs limited the developer’s ability to increase the offer.

Council voted to convene in closed session under Wisconsin Statutes §19.85(1)(e) to deliberate bargaining strategy for the lease; the motion to enter closed session passed 11–1. After reconvening in open session, Ald. Grant moved to amend the item to designate authority to the mayor to approve the agreement subject to the terms discussed in closed session; the amended motion passed (ayes have it) and the mayor was authorized to finalize the lease.

Next steps: the mayor’s office will execute the lease consistent with the closed-session terms, after which the developer may proceed with interconnection studies and geotechnical work required for final engineering and permitting. The project, if built, would provide several years of local construction jobs and a modest annual revenue stream from utility aid.