The great state of Wisconsin is about to get enough clean energy to power 200,000 homes, as the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin has approved a new solar farm that will be the most powerful in the state, Electrek reported.
Vista Sands Solar Farm, which will be located on 8,500 acres of private farmland in Portage County that is being leased from its owners, is being developed by Doral Renewables LLC, a Philadelphia-based company.
The project is expected to take around two years to complete. It will cost $1 billion and generate around 500 jobs during construction and 50 permanent positions once the farm is open for business, per the company.
"Today, the [Public Service Commission of Wisconsin] approved the biggest step toward curbing Wisconsin's carbon emissions in the state's history. Deployment of clean energy on this scale will do more to advance state energy policy than has any construction project in Wisconsin to date," said Katie Nekola of the environmental organization Clean Wisconsin.
Unlike traditional dirty energy sources like gas and oil, solar panels can harvest clean, renewable energy from the sun without producing planet-overheating air pollution. Considering the fact that our planet keeps getting hotter, leading to more frequent and more intense extreme weather events, we need more of these types of projects to replace dirty energy infrastructure as soon as possible.
The news of the new solar farm was met with mostly applause and some concern by Electrek's readers.
"Go Badgers!" wrote one commenter.
"Sounds great but will Trump find a way to derail the project?" another queried.
"Power companies pursue profits, like any other business. The simple fact is solar and wind don't need fuel. As soon as the hardware cost got low enough, first wind, then solar became the preferred power source. The main holdup right now is power line capacity to deliver what they produce," a third commenter replied.
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