Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) recently received approval from state regulators to build a 5-megawatt (MW) solar array on land adjacent to the Middleton Municipal Airport. The 17,000-panel solar array will produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of about 1,500 households with typical energy use.

One MW of the project will serve the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District under a Renewable Energy Rider. The agreement is the first of its kind for a school in Wisconsin. Through an RER, MGE partners with a large energy user to tailor a renewable energy solution that meets the customer's needs. The model advances shared energy goals and grows clean energy in our community.
 
History of partnering around clean energy

MGE has a history of partnering with schools throughout our community to grow awareness of clean energy.  In 1999, the MGE Foundation donated a 2.4-kilowatt (kW) solar array to Middleton High School and a similar 2.4 kW system to the Middleton Clark Street Community School. Both arrays still exist and generate energy for the schools. The donations were part of a larger donation of 10 solar arrays for all high schools in the MGE electric service area as part of the MGE Solar in Schools Program.

City of Middleton, Shared Solar also served by Morey Field array

The City of Middleton also will be served by the array under a separate Renewable Energy Rider for 0.5 MW.

The remaining portion of the array—about seventy percent—will serve MGE's Shared Solar program, an optional clean energy program for residential and business electric customers who want to power their home or business with locally generated, cost-effective solar energy. The array expands MGE's Shared Solar program, which began in 2016 when MGE and the City of Middleton partnered to bring a 500-kilowatt array to the roof of Middleton's Municipal Operations Center. Back to Cover