Aspen Power is partnering with a developer to acquire 20 community solar projects, primarily located in Illinois, with a total 19 MW capacity. 

The portfolio consists of projects in various stages, including projects already in construction and set to be commissioned this year.

“We are excited to announce plans to acquire these solar projects in Illinois,” says Aspen Power’s Dan Gulick. “Expanding Aspen’s geographical portfolio plays a significant role in advancing decarbonization and increasing access to green energy in new communities.”

The company has partnered with Common Energy to subscribe and manage the community solar projects. 

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Chaberton Energy and Pivot Energy are partnering on a Maryland solar project aimed at powering both commercial and community customers.

The 19-acre site, named Project Catherine, sits on St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church’s property in Cooksville, Md. and is expected to generate 4.3 MW. A portion of the project supplies energy directly to the church, with the rest serving Loyola University Maryland and the surrounding community via subscription model.

“Pivot Energy shares our passion for the energy transition and works tirelessly to help communities access local, affordable, clean energy,” says Mike Doniger, chief operating officer at Chaberton Energy.

“This project showcases our development team’s creativity as it combines three different solar business models in one project: a community solar project, a power purchase agreement with a nonprofit and the offsetting of on-site electricity usage. We are grateful to St. Mary Church, Howard County officials, Loyola and so many others who collaborated to make this a reality.”

The site was originally developed by Chaberton and recently acquired by Pivot.

Community solar subscribers will have access to 3.4 MW of capacity via the Maryland Community Solar program. Loyola will have access to 750 kw of direct current via the Maryland Aggregate Net Energy Metering program and the balance will be used to offset the church’s on-site load.

Pivot donated to the Power52 Foundation, a workforce development organization that helps at-risk individuals from the Baltimore area. Chaberton donated money to Bright Minds Foundation, a community group that supports Howard County public education, and the Community Ecology Institute, a Maryland nonprofit.

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Southern Company subsidiary Southern Power is expanding its 29th solar project, the Millers Branch facility, located in Haskell County, Texas. 

The Phase II expansion represents an additional 180 MW from the current Phase I 200 MW facility that is nearing the start of construction. 

“We are thrilled to announce the expansion of our Millers Branch Solar Facility,” says Southern Power President Robin Boren. 

“This 180 MW renewable energy expansion represents a clean, innovative solution to help a diverse group of customers achieve meaningful progress on their own sustainability objectives. It’s one more example of how Southern Power is building the future of energy and meeting the evolving needs of our customers and communities.”

Southern Power will lead the continued development and construction of both phases of Millers Branch. Phase II is expected to achieve commercial operation in 2026.

Cisco, Juniper Networks, IDEXX Laboratories, Cadence, Bio-Rad and PTC, with support from Sustainability Roundtable and together as members of the Net Zero Consortium for Buyers, each signed PPAs with Southern Power for all the environmental attributes produced by the Phase II portion of the solar facility.

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Alternus Clean Energy has agreed to acquire an 80 MW portfolio of 33 operating PV projects, distributed across eight U.S. states. 

The portfolio has agreements in place, the company says, with an average remaining term of 12 years through 16 different counterparties. 

Total consideration is approximately $60 million including existing project debt. Alternus plans to fund the acquisition at the project level with the target for completion by the end of this quarter.

“We are excited with the signing of these definitive agreements as we mark the first of our many identified strategic acquisitions and other growth initiatives in the U.S., following our successful listing on Nasdaq in December,” says Vincent Browne, Alternus Clean Energy CEO. 

“On completion, this will almost triple our operational projects to over 120 MW and will further enhance operational efficiencies and financial performance across our renewable energy assets in the U.S. and Europe. The portfolio will be immediately revenue and earnings accretive generated by a diverse mix of revenue streams from quality long term offtake contracts.”

Closing of the acquisition is still subject to certain closing conditions, including restructuring and assumption of the existing debt.

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Sunrun has enrolled nearly 1,800 customers, including 2,000 batteries, in its PowerOn Puerto Rico virtual power plant program, which has been supplying energy from solar-plus-storage systems to the island’s grid since last fall. 

The company is the largest participant in Puerto Rico’s Battery Emergency Demand Response Program. When the island’s electric utility provider, LUMA, foresees a supply shortfall, Sunrun dispatches stored solar energy from enrolled customers’ batteries to stabilize the grid. 

“The resilience of the people of Puerto Rico is truly remarkable. They consistently step up to help their community by sharing their stored solar energy and improving energy reliability for everyone,” says Sunrun CEO Mary Powell. 

“LUMA has already called upon Sunrun a dozen times since last fall to activate our virtual power plant, with several of those being emergency events, meaning outages were imminent. It’s incredible to be part of a program that’s making an immediate positive impact.”

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