The city of Columbia, MD is now running its facilities on 100% renewable energy, thanks to a new solar farm.
The Columbia Association manages Columbia, an unincorporated city of nearly 100,000 people. The Association has been sourcing 75 percent of its energy from the purchase of renewable wind energy credits. The final 25 percent is being generated from the two mega watt Nixon Farm solar project. Located in West Friendship, the electricity produced from the farm will be provided via virtual net metering under a 20 year agreement with SunEdison.
“With the completion of the Nixon Farm solar power plant, the people of Columbia now enjoy the environmental and cost benefits of getting 100 percent of their electricity from renewable sources,” said Steve Raeder, SunEdison’s general manager of Eastern U.S. commercial and industrial solar.
Jeremy Scharfenberg, Columbia Association’s energy manager, says that the combination of the solar farm and wind credits have allowed the city to move toward its renewable energy goals and reduce its carbon footprint by half.