ESCANABA — After years of research and consideration, the construction of Escanaba’s solar energy garden will begin to become a reality next week, council was informed at a joint meeting with the Electrical Advisory Committee (EAC) at city hall Thursday.

The 1.16-megawatt solar energy project will be funded by electric fund monies and renewable energy credits and will help lower energy costs city-wide by using free fuel from the sun, according to EAC member Glendon Brown who has been researching and spearheading the project.

Last month, council approved hiring GRNE of Palatine, Ill., to engineer, construct and start up the solar garden at a cost of $1.2 million.

The timeline for the community energy garden was presented during the joint meeting by Electric Superintendent Mike Furmanski, who has also been involved in developing the project. He said construction materials are expected to start arriving Monday on the 12.55-acre site located at the Delta County Airport.

Council approved a contract with the county to lease the property for $295 annually for 30 years, with options to extend the contract in five-year increments up to an additional 30 years at a rate of 3 percent more every five years. The county approved the agreement on May 15.

Council also approved on Thursday hiring Delta Fence to install a seven-foot chain link fence around the property at a cost of $32,000.

During the middle of next week, beams will be driven into the ground to mount the solar energy system including the racks and solar panels which will be installed during June.

Fifteen solar inverters, which are currently being manufactured, are expected to arrive at the construction site later in July, said Brown, explaining the units convert the solar energy’s DC power into AC power for consumer use.

Brown said he’s hopeful the project will be completed by the end of the summer, depending on the delivery date of the inverters.

“Once we know our costs, we’ll start promoting our sales to the public,” added Brown.

A program will be established for residential and business electric customers to buy the output of one solar panel to help offset the city’s construction costs, explained Brown.

As part of the city’s agreement with the county, the county has the option to purchase up to 500 of the approximate 3,500 solar panels that will be installed.

In other business Thursday, council approved entering into a three-year extension of its energy supply agreement with NextEra Energy Inc., the city’s power supplier, from June 2024 to May 2027.

Escanaba has been purchasing wholesale power from NextEra since January 2012 and currently has a contract with the energy supplier through fiscal year 2023-24.

Council also approved hiring Utility Financial Solutions LLC to conduct a study on the cost of the city’s electric service and rates for an amount not to exceed $25,000. Furmanski noted, the city last conducted a rate study six years ago.

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Jenny Lancour, (906) 786-2021, ext. 143, jlancour@dailypress.net