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Millersville University has committed to purchasing solar power from Community Energy Inc.’s (CEI) Keystone Solar Project, a six megawatt ground-mounted solar project that will produce approximately 8,000 megawatt hours of electricity annually – the equivalent of powering 950 homes and avoiding 5,516 tons of carbon dioxide each year. This project is being constructed in Lancaster, Pa.
”We are pleased to participate in the Keystone Solar project with Community Energy,” said Roger Bruszewski, Millersville University’s vice president for finance and administration. “We are particularly excited about the educational enrichment opportunity for our students that Community Energy has developed.”
As part of the sponsorship commitment, Millersville University will have access to an online course, “Building Keystone Solar,” designed to invite students and professors behind the scenes of the real-world solar project development process with in-depth videos, documents, designs and plans not otherwise available in the classroom. This course is being developed to help expand experiential learning and create pathways to careers in renewable energy for students.
“This will give Millersville graduates a competitive edge in the emerging clean sector,” said Brent Alderfer, president of CEI. “Millersville University has been a renewable energy leader for many years. Voluntary purchases of renewable energy, like the one Millersville made, will help grow the demand for new clean energy. We hope that more universities join with Millersville to accelerate the development of solar power.”
This initiative is the most recent among the University’s continuous efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. Millersville has taken many steps toward this goal such as the formation of its sustainability committee and successful “zero waste” commencement ceremony held for the first time this past May. Millersville was also included in The Princeton Review’s 2012 Guide to Green Colleges.
For more information, visit the Keystone Solar Project website.
7 replies on “Millersville University Makes a Commitment to Solar Power”
It is fantastic and encouraging to see university’s like Millersville University taking a positive step towards a greener future, especially in the US where solar energy has not been as widely accepted as it has been here in Europe and Australia.
The Feed in Tariff is certainly an opportunity not to be missed and we hope to see a lot more Universities in the US follow in your footsteps.
It’s great to see the growth of solar power in our communities. With the price parity of solar panels and related equipment, now is the time to see if solar is right for you. Check to see if there are subsidized programs in your area like the Ontario MicroFIT Program, that pays you to generate power. Or maybe there is net metering programs that will let you use solar power as your main source and only rely on Infrastrucutre energy as backup.
One way to help with reducing energy is by using solar panels in your home. Solar energy harnesses the power from the sun which is then used to provide energy to things like getting hot water, drying clothes and keeping your home warm during the winter. Solar energy is also pollution free and helps to lower the carbon footprint along with other greenhouse gases and terrible emissions.
Thanks for this info – that makes the rest of the article far more informative.
So does this mean the track team will come back?
Company: Community Energy
Project: Keystone Solar Project
Annual Volume: 212MWH
Term: 5 years
Total Payment: $188,680 (represents savings of $61,320).
How much does this initiative cost MU? It is conspicuously absent from this article.