April 25, 2024
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Yorkville to solicit proposals for solar field projects

Submissions from solar companies must demonstrate that any potential developments not create new costs for the city.

By Lucas Robinson
Thousands of solar panels make up a farm used to power the Kendall County Jail, Health Department and Courthouse.

FILE PHOTO: Thousands of solar panels make up a solar field or farm used to power the Kendall County Jail, Health Department and Courthouse in Yorkville. (Shea Lazansky)

With two new solar fields going online on government property in Kendall County already this year, Yorkville is positioning itself to hear proposals from solar companies about bringing a possible development to the city.

The Yorkville City Council will consider a request for proposal contract for solar fields at its upcoming meeting Tuesday, June 22. The contract will allow the city to hear pitches from firms and eventually draft plans for a new renewable energy source.

The open call for solar projects will be administered by Progressive Business Solutions, the city’s electric aggregation broker. The company has assisted in other local solar projects, like the county’s John Street solar field and the Fox Metro Water Reclamation District solar field in Montgomery.

“The Kendall County (Government solar) campus (on John Street) was built with no county outlay of funds and is saving the county more than $100,000 per year in electric costs with little management responsibility from the county,” city staff wrote in a memo urging support of the request for proposal contract.

Progressive Business Solutions has told the city that solar funding could soon be available from the state, per the memo.

Solar firms submitting proposals to the city must demonstrate a potential solar field can provide economic benefit to the city, not impact ongoing environmental investigations and not create new costs for the city.

A deadline for submissions is Aug. 13, with groundbreaking of any solar field to be decided at a later date.