Tallahassee Solar: Learn What’s on the Horizon

City and Origis Energy USA Host Informational Meeting Next Week

January 02, 2018

With Tallahassee's first solar farm complete and now pumping clean, green energy into the electric system, the City of Tallahassee is hosting a community meeting next week where Origis Energy USA will provide an overview of the recently completed solar farm and an update on the expansion of the solar program. The meeting, which will take place on Thursday, Jan. 11, at 6 p.m., will allow project managers to share details about the new solar farm and answer questions from utility customers about plans for a second solar farm. The meeting will take place in the second-floor Boeing Room of the Tallahassee International Airport (TLH), located at 3300 Capital Circle SW. Attendees can park in the short-term parking area and should bring their ticket to the meeting for validation.

Last month, crews completed construction on the 20 megawatt (MW), 120-acre solar farm located on the property of the Airport. Construction on the community's first solar farm included the installation of more than 200,000 thin-film solar panels. Earlier this week, solar energy generated by the farm became fully integrated into the City's electric grid.

Since open enrollment began this past summer, more than 2,000 residential and small- and medium-sized commercial utility customers have signed up to participate in Tallahassee Solar, the City's solar program. Large commercial utility customers, including Florida State University, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Tallahassee Community College and Leon County Schools, have also signed on to participate.

The Tallahassee Solar program allows residential, small and medium-sized commercial customers to elect for all or a portion of their monthly electric bill to reflect solar at one of three rate levels: 25, 50 and 100 percent. Large commercial utility customers set a fixed number of kilowatt hours to be designated as solar. Customers who signed up to participate in Tallahassee Solar will begin being billed in February, after one full month of operation.

Due to the tremendous support of the community for solar, the demand for solar subscriptions exceeded the projected output of the solar farm in October of last year, leading to the creation of a waiting list. Utility customers who wish to sign up for the solar waiting list can visit Talgov.com/Solar. The waiting list is for the second solar farm, which is currently in the planning stages. The second solar farm is expected to be twice as big.

In October, the Tallahassee City Commission voted unanimously to have staff bring back a recommendation for a community plan to be 100 percent sustainable by 2035. Tallahassee Solar is set to be a keystone element of those efforts.

To learn more about Tallahassee Solar, visit Talgov.com/Solar or call 891-4968. For up-to-date information about the farm, which is located on the property of the Tallahassee International Airport (TLH), please follow the City of Tallahassee's official social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also follow the conversation and show your support by using #TallahasseeSolar.