Advocates for solar energy in DeKalb County hold forum to encourage residential use

Area proponents for solar energy held a community conversation Monday to advocate for ways to utilize the alternative energy resource in everyday life.

A representative for Citizens Utility Board spoke to DeKalb County during a virtual forum Monday to show how community solar panels can help the public lower its carbon footprint, even for those who rent or can’t modify their homes. The panel, which was sponsored by the League of Women Voters DeKalb County and Responsive Engagement Activating Civic Talent DeKalb County, hosted more than two dozen curious DeKalb residents through a Zoom conference.

The Citizens Utility Board is a nonprofit utility watch dog created by the Illinois legislature through the Illinois CUB Act of 1983. Scott Allen, the Environmental Outreach Coordinator and CUB representative, spoke during the panel.

Allen said he believes right now is the optimal time for residents to invest in solar projects because of what he calls robust state incentives.

“We ran off a solar cliff, meaning that there was a gap in the funding for all of these programs because it took so long to pass a new energy bill,” Allen said. “But now the money is flowing again, the industry is getting back on its feet and we’re about to see a whole lot of projects being built in the state, and that includes a lot more community solar projects.”

Meryl Greer Domina helped co-host the panel with Sandra Davis through their work with 350 Kishwaukee, an organization dedicated to fighting the fossil fuel industry.

“It’s hard to hear people say that the climate change is in the future, it’s happening now and has been for years,” said Davis.

The desire for solar energy goes hand in hand with the threat of climate change, which is why the Illinois Community Solar program stems from the 2016 Future Energy Jobs Act. The legislation allows for energy consumers to purchase a portion of electricity produced through a community solar garden and in return receive credits on their electric bill.

Solar energy also continues to be a larger conversation at the federal level, after President Joe Biden recently promised to “strong executive action” to combat climate change. Biden’s comments came despite dual setbacks in recent weeks that have restricted his ability to regulate carbon emissions and boost clean energy such as wind and solar power.

Biden’s administration has also pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, compared to 2005 levels.

was among those President Joe Biden has promised to prioritize as planned executive action to combat climate change

A solar garden is a solar project in which people can buy or subscribe to an allotment of solar panels inside the array, a collection of panels installed together.

“Community solar is meant for people who can’t get solar on their houses to still benefit from cheaper energy,” said Allen, “It has to be inclusive, everybody has to be able to take advantage of this.”

The subscribers of a community solar garden enter into an agreement that enables the funding for a solar installation somewhere within their utility’s service territory. One entity pays for the upfront costs to build, maintain and connect the garden to the utility’s power grid and subscribers pay the owner of the garden for their allocation of produced electricity. Then, the owner of the garden reports the output of each solar subscription to the utility company. The company then takes that output and gives credits towards the subscriber’s electric bill.

If a subscriber uses 1,000 Kilowatt hours of electricity from a utility company in a pay period, for example, and the subscriber’s portion of a solar garden generates 900 kilowatt hours of power, the user would only need to pay the utility for the remaining 100 kilowatt hours.

According to CUB, all community solar companies in Illinois charge at a lower rate than Illinois utility companies ComED and Ameren. At current rates, a customer of a community solar garden must subscribe to a minimum of 200 watts, which is around one solar panel.

The electricity going to a subscriber’s home doesn’t come from the solar panels but rather the overall electric grid. The solar panel’s creation of new electricity lowers the market price by decreasing the need for other power plants.

“You will be saving something,” said Allen. “It might not be gigantic, some months it will be more than other months, particularly in the summer time when we have more daylight hours, but you’ll be getting a savings on your bill.”

The concept also lowers the threshold to invest in and benefit from solar energy, meaning those with lower income or who don’t own a home can still get in on the action.

Solar energy has been the subject of several major commercial projects in DeKalb County over the past year, though not without its controversy at the DeKalb County government level. In November, the DeKalb County Board approved a trio of industrial solar projects – two from Leeward Energies and one from Samsung – which will bring commercial solar farms to nearly 6,000 acres of privately-owned land in the county.

There will be a 3,700-acre project called Owens Creek and a 1,800-acre project called Red Maple, both by Texas-based Leeward Renewable Energy; and a 643-acre project from Samsung called DK Solar. The proposals are slated for development in the southern portion of the county.

The County Board’s decision came after months of debate, and several groups of residents who came forward to oppose the solar farms. The residents, who lived in the rural areas where the projects are slated to be built, voiced concerns over size and loss of farming land. Proponents – including multi-generational farmers who contracted with Leeward for the use of their land – have proclaimed solar energy’s economic and climate benefits, including for DeKalb County property tax revenue.

Despite some pushback against solar projects in DeKalb County, Allen thinks solar still has bright years ahead in the area.

“If DeKalb County and their zoning board is a little better than Sangamon County, where I am,” said Allen, “in the future there’s probably going to be several community solar projects built in DeKalb County.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.