ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – Earlier this year, Environmental Protection Agency cuts halted plans for a new solar facility in Escanaba. Now, work is underway on an alternate plan to bring more renewable energy to the city.
The Escanaba Electric Department is taking advantage of tax incentives available through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 by introducing the Whitetail Solar Farm.
“We decided to go with the 1.4 megawatt AC facility,” said Electric Utility Director Gerald Pirkola. “It’ll generate enough energy to supply approximately the amount of energy that 350 residential homes would use.”
Right now, crews are clearing land for the panels in the Whitetail Industrial Park, which sits on property the City already owns.
“It’s been vacant for several years, so we thought this would be an ideal use for this property,” Pirkola said.
Escanaba’s City Council approved the purchase of the necessary solar panels last week.
“There are several rules required with the Inflation Reduction Act and the recently-passed One Big, Beautiful Bill,” Pirkola explained. “Either a certain amount of construction needs to be completed, or the project is committed with a certain amount of payment. We decided to go with the solar panels and make that purchase because it’s the largest part of the project.”
Overall, the project costs an estimated $3.5 – $4 million. However, the City aims to get half of those funds back, thanks to tax incentives.
“There’s a base 30% tax incentive for renewable energy projects,” said Pirkola. “There’s an additional 10% available for energy communities—and pretty much the whole Upper Peninsula of Michigan is an energy community—and then if we use domestic products, we will be eligible for an additional 10%.”
Pirkola says the Whitetail Solar Farm will also go a long way toward helping Escanaba meet the State’s renewable energy mandate, which requires Michigan municipalities to go 50% renewable by 2030.
“We have an existing solar facility,” he said. “It’s about the same size as what we’re planning, slightly smaller—1.3 megawatts—so this new project will essentially double the amount of solar that we have.”
The City will begin construction next summer. The Whitetail Solar Farm should be up and running that fall.
