SOUTH BEND, Ind., May 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the
Michiana area is greener. That's
because the St. Joseph Solar Farm, developed by Indiana Michigan
Power (I&M), a subsidiary of American Electric Power (Nasdaq:
AEP) , in partnership with the University of Notre Dame, is now generating
emission-free renewable energy.
The Unveiling
During an unveiling ceremony this morning, Lisa Barton, AEP executive vice president and
COO; Toby Thomas, I&M president
and COO; Rev. John I. Jenkins,
C.S.C., President of the University of Notre
Dame; along with Indiana Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch and Louie the Lightning Bug,
I&M's mascot, symbolically "flipped the switch" on the new
20-megawatt solar farm, I&M's fifth and largest solar farm
yet.
The University of Notre Dame
Partnership
The facility is located along the Indiana Toll Road, east of
South Bend, Ind., 8 miles from the
University of Notre Dame's campus.
Notre Dame will promote its
sustainability goals by committing to support 40% of the renewable
energy certificates (RECs), which represent the clean energy
generated by the solar farm.
"This valuable partnership with Notre
Dame is another positive step on our journey to creating a
cleaner, brighter energy future with our communities," said
Lisa Barton, executive vice
president and chief operating officer, AEP. "AEP recently announced
our commitment to reach net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
Projects like the St. Joseph Solar Farm help us deliver the
reliable and affordable energy our customers expect."
The St. Joseph Solar Farm is the largest solar endeavor for
Notre Dame, which collaborated on the
large-scale project.
"Notre Dame is pleased to
collaborate with Indiana Michigan Power on this significant solar
energy project. Our commitment to sustainability reflects our
Catholic mission and values and recognizes the link between
environmental sustainability and the University's future," said
Rev. John I Jenkins, C.S.C, president of the University of Notre Dame. "It's important to work
within our local community to create projects like the St. Joseph
Solar Farm to provide educational opportunities for our students
and to have an impact on our environment and economy."
"The St. Joseph solar
farm builds on Indiana Michigan Power's (I&M) commitment to
create a sustainable future for our employees, customers and
communities we proudly serve in Indiana and Michigan," said Toby
Thomas, I&M president and COO. "A big thank you to the
University of Notre Dame for being the
first customer to step up and partner with us on a solar farm to
create a bright future for our communities."
Facts About the St. Joseph Solar Farm
After a brief delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, construction
on the St. Joseph Solar Farm began in July
2020. It took more than 100 workers eight months and 75,000
plus working hours to construct the St. Joseph Solar Farm.
57,720 First Solar Panels - 86"x51" each
enough to fill about 30 football fields
Provides enough energy to power 2,700 homes annually
Built on 210 acres of I&M owned land in St. Joseph County
Environmental impact --the same as avoiding more than 13,000
tons of CO2 – the equivalent of more than 30
million miles driven (14,000 trips from South Bend to Los
Angeles)
South Bend and St. Joseph
County Proclamations
Additionally, during the unveiling event, South Bend Mayor James
Mueller presented a proclamation to I&M and Notre Dame hereby proclaiming and
recognizing Thursday, May 6, to be
"Solar Energy Day" in South
Bend, Indiana.
It was proclaimed "Solar Energy Day" day in St. Joseph County, Indiana from the President
of County Commissioners, Andrew Kostielney.
I&M Green Program
I&M's customers can also support a green energy future by
participating in the IM Green program, which enables customers to
purchase RECs from I&M-owned facilities. This costs as little
as pennies per day for an average residential customer.
I&M's five solar farms generate nearly 35 megawatts of
solar energy – enough to power 4,700 homes annually. The addition
of the St. Joseph Solar Farm aligns with I&M's commitment to
diversify our generation fleet to build a future that is boundless.
In 2020, 85% of the energy I&M generated was emission free. The
company owns and operates five solar farms, six run-of-river
hydroelectric facilities along the St. Joseph River and purchases
power from three wind farms. I&M also generates more than 2,278
megawatts of electricity, with both units operating at the D.C.
Cook Nuclear Plant, the equivalent of powering more than 1.5
million homes a year.
For more information, including videos and photos of the St.
Joseph Solar Farm, please visit:
IndianaMichiganPower.com/StJosephSolar
ABOUT INDIANA MICHIGAN POWER:
Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) is headquartered in
Fort Wayne, and its approximately
2,100 employees serve more than 600,000 customers. More than 85% of
its energy delivered in 2020 was emission-free. I&M has
at its availability various sources of generation including 2,278
MW of nuclear generation in Michigan, 450 MW of purchased wind generation
from Indiana, more than 22 MW of
hydro generation in both states, nearly 35 MW of large-scale solar
generation in both states, and 2,620 MW of coal-fueled generation
in Indiana.
ABOUT AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER:
American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio, is focused on building a
smarter energy infrastructure and delivering new technologies and
custom energy solutions to our customers. AEP's approximately
16,800 employees operate and maintain the nation's largest
electricity transmission system and more than 223,000 miles of
distribution lines to efficiently deliver safe, reliable power to
nearly 5.5 million regulated customers in 11 states. AEP also is
one of the nation's largest electricity producers with
approximately 30,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity,
including more than 5,500 megawatts of renewable energy. AEP's
family of companies includes utilities AEP Ohio, AEP Texas,
Appalachian Power (in Virginia and
West Virginia), AEP Appalachian
Power (in Tennessee), Indiana
Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of
Oklahoma, and Southwestern
Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana, east Texas and the Texas
Panhandle). AEP also owns AEP Energy, AEP Energy Partners,
AEP OnSite Partners, and AEP Renewables, which provide innovative
competitive energy solutions nationwide. For more information,
visit aep.com.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE
DAME:
Founded in 1842, the University of Notre
Dame is the nation's leading Catholic research university,
providing a distinctive voice in higher education that is at once
rigorously intellectual, unapologetically moral in orientation, and
firmly embracing of a service ethos. Rated among the top 20 of all
U.S. institutions of higher learning, Notre
Dame ranks second nationally in the percentage of students
who study abroad and has seen research funding increase from
$87 million to $141.5 million in the past decade. The University
is organized into four undergraduate colleges — Arts and Letters,
Science, Engineering, and the Mendoza College of Business — the
School of Architecture, the Keough School of Global Affairs, the
Law School and the Graduate School. It is located adjacent to the
city of South Bend, Indiana, in a
region with a population of more than 300,000, and is widely known
for the beauty of its campus, including the Golden Dome of the Main
Building, the world's most recognized university landmark.
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SOURCE American Electric Power