Community Energy Will Build Largest Solar Power Project in PA

Receives 7-Year Commitment from Franklin & Marshall College

Community Energy presents Franklin and Marshall with a certificate of recognition for the Keystone Solar Project. Watch the video! 

Radnor, PA, July 6, 2011 – Community Energy is partnering with Franklin & Marshall College for the largest utility-scale solar project in Pennsylvania.  With the agreement, F&M will purchase Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) from the Keystone Solar Project that Community Energy will build on farmland in East Drumore Township, Lancaster, PA in 2012.

The Keystone Solar Project is a 6 megawatt (DC) ground-mounted solar project that will produce approximately 7,500 MWh of electricity annually, the equivalent of powering 950 homes or avoiding 4,200 tons of carbon dioxide each year. Community Energy is the developer of the Keystone Solar Project and is working in partnership with Exelon Generation, the wholesale off-taker on the project. 

“We are proud to work with Franklin & Marshall in bringing utility-scale solar to Pennsylvania. Franklin & Marshall is demonstrating strong leadership in Pennsylvania renewable energy by stepping up to a long-term commitment to the Keystone Solar Project,” said Brent Alderfer, CEO and Founder of Community Energy.

F&M has been purchasing wind generated Renewable Energy Credits from Community Energy since 2002, but this is the first time that a retail electric customer in Pennsylvania has committed to purchase SRECs from a solar project prior to construction. A Renewable Energy Credit (REC), also known as a green tag, represents the environmental and economic value of 1 MWh of electricity produced from renewable energy sources.  RECs function as a form of currency that allows the environmental attributes of renewable energy generation to be sold as a separate product. 

The College’s Associate Vice President for Facilities Management, Maria Cimilluca said, “Franklin & Marshall has been working for many years to support sustainable energy solutions. Because the Keystone Solar Project is a local endeavor, it is a huge opportunity for the community as well as F&M to jump on board now.”

A long-term commitment like this makes renewable energy projects possible, and it also helps the cause of land preservation. The bonded removal of the project after 25 years will return the land to farming richer in nutrients than it is today.