The Mankato city council is voting on the adoption of a community solar project in the Mankato area

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - Tonight the Mankato city council is voting on the adoption of a community solar project in the Mankato area, which would be a backup for non-traditional solar power subscribers.

Cooperative Energy Futures would allow low-income households to subscribe to the solar project. Typically traditional subscribers were homeowners that met the credit and income requirement.

The city of Mankato says they are exploring possibilities of supporting renewable energy sources without the investment of capital or financial risk to the city.

“This is one of those options that we have to provide the city’s indirect resources to help folks who may not have a traditional method of being able to take advantage of this resource,” said Michael McCarty, Assistant City Engineer for the city of Mankato.

Cooperative Energy Futures says the initiative would not only benefit renters and low-income communities, but also the general public.

“The biggest benefit directly is a reduced cost in your electrical cost. I believe it’s six to seven percent kind of initially in 20 percent maximum over the life of the agreement secondarily. There’s the benefits of going solar the reduced impact that that power usage has on the environment,” said McCarty.

The city says unused capacity could be redirected to the city via power demand at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.

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