Organic Valley Community Solar Partnership

Thanks to a new community solar partnership that will provide renewable energy options to more areas of Wisconsin, Organic Valley is on track to be 100 percent renewable-energy powered in 2019, a year ahead of its 2020 goal. This will make it the largest food company in the world to be 100 percent renewable-powered. The new project, spearheaded by Organic Valley and in partnership with the Upper Midwest Municipal Energy Group, OneEnergy Renewables, the City of Madison and Dr. Bronner’s, will install 10 solar arrays benefitting 13 communities across the Midwest. In just one year, the partnership will increase the overall solar energy generation in Wisconsin by a whopping 33 percent.

Three arrays generating approximately 40 percent of the total project’s energy will benefit Organic Valley as well as everyone living and working in six communities around the cooperative’s Wisconsin operations: Arcadia, Cashton, La Farge, Merrillan, and Viola in Wisconsin and St. Charles in Minnesota. The Arcadia array will be the largest solar array in Wisconsin when it is complete in mid-2019.

The City of Madison is supporting the construction of five projects in Argyle, Cumberland, Elroy, Fennimore, and New Lisbon. The energy produced will offset approximately 35 percent of the city operations’ electrical use, bringing it that much closer to its goal of being 100 percent renewable- powered.

“The City of Madison supports the connection between renewable energy, organic agriculture and rural economic development,” said Madison Mayor Paul Soglin. “By financially supporting this renewable energy project in southwest Wisconsin, the City of Madison takes a big step toward reaching its renewable energy goals, supports a Wisconsin business (Organic Valley) in achieving its renewable energy goals, and supports the rural economy. It is a win-win-win for the State of Wisconsin, the City of Madison, and the rural communities of Argyle, Cumberland, Elroy, Fennimore and New Lisbon.”

Notably, the new solar arrays will incorporate sustainable landscaping, such as pollinator habitat or grazing animals instead of mowing or laying gravel. Organic Valley says that the solar meadows created by the full project will create as much bee and butterfly habitat as if 30,000 families were to each plant 6-by-12-foot pollinator gardens at their homes.

“Organic Valley is a farmer-owned cooperative with deep roots in the rural Midwest, so it makes sense that we would work together to create new sources of energy right here at home that can be shared by all,” said George Siemon, CEO and a founding farmer of Organic Valley. “We are committed to achieving 100 percent renewable electricity for our cooperative, but also to sharing the bounty of solar electricity with rural communities where we live and work.”