'This is a really smart thing': Groundbreaking commences for Houston Solar Farm

Under a rare blue sky, ground broke on the Houston Solar Farm site Wednesday. When completed, the project will be the largest solar panel farm in the state, which will produce energy to support 1,400 homes.

“In Alaska, the technology has come so far to the point that we’re standing on what’s going to be the largest solar farm in the state of Alaska,” remarked Gov. Mike Dunleavy during the groundbreaking Wednesday morning.

When completed, the Houston Solar Farm will produce 8.5 megawatts of power, six times that of the Willow Solar Farm, nearly double of any other solar project in Alaska.

“Oil and gas and renewables are not incompatible; they fit nicely, so I think we’re going to see more and more of what we’re seeing here moving rapidly across Alaska,” said Dunleavy.

“It reminds me of the partnership and great things that can be done when you have the private sector and the innovation, and an energy company like MEA, and the state of Alaska and the Governor with a vision around energy,” said Tony Izzo, Chief Executive Officer of MEA.

“This isn’t just a nice thing, this isn’t just a carbon thing, this is really a smart thing,” he said, expressing hope that this solar farm will be the beginning of tremendous amounts of power that can be produced here in Alaska.

The new solar panels will absorb sunlight from two sides, an improvement over the panels in Willow. The solar panels will only occupy 45 of the 160 acres of land.

Jenn Miller, chief executive of Renewable IPP gave remarks before the groundbreaking.

“They said ‘Solar in Alaska? That can’t work’,” Miller reflected about naysayers who doubted that solar could be possible in Alaska. “Solar in Alaska? Let’s see if we can figure it out.”

Miller talked about how people were able to come together to innovate and solve problems.

“As a result, we’re delivering cost-competitive solar energy here in Alaska, and people didn’t think that could be done, so it’s been a heartwarming experience,” she said.

The Houston Solar Farm was the brainchild of Mat-Su Borough Asset Manager Tracy McDaniel, who was contacted by Miller and IPP after the completion of the Willow Solar Farm to inquire about a bigger piece of land to create a bigger farm.

“We worked with the Borough on a long-term lease that was supported unanimously by the Assembly and Mayor,” Miller said, adding that her team then reached out to the City of Houston Mayor Virgie Thompson and the city council, as the land needed to be rezoned.

“What shows is the integrity of the Houston community is that instead of addressing concerns on the sidelines, they called me directly to talk this through,” she said, adding that she was invited to speak with neighbors, coming together to address concerns.

One such concern to some residents was the impact of the solar farm to the berry picking that many take part in on the land. The Houston project will allow blueberry and cranberry bushes to grow between rows of panels.

“The low-bush cranberries will continue to grow and the solar panels 3 and ½ feet off the ground, so all the plants can continue to grow as is and we don’t have to disturb the biosphere,” said Miller.

“We’re trying to be more environmentally friendly as we do more of these,” Miller said. It requires relatively little tree-clearing, since part of the land was scorched in the 1996 Miller’s Reach Fire.

Under a 25-year deal, the energy will be sold to the Matanuska Electric Association starting at 6.7 cents a kilowatt hour, with small annual increases, Miller said.

The solar project will help diversify energy sources and stabilize electricity prices in Alaska, according to a statement from MEA, providing power in Eagle River and the Matanuska-Susitna region.

“This is another sign of the innovation and growth you’re going to see in this region,” Izzo said, who was pleased to be able to help bring the vision of the solar farm to life.

“This represents for our members and technologists a desire for more renewable energy without an increase in rates,” Izzo said. He went on to say that while the Willow project has neither increased or reduced rates but has provided fuel supply diversity and reliability. With the Houston farm coming in at 6 times bigger than Willow, once online, the power will be lower than what people see today.

“I think it’s really awesome that they’re going forward with it,” said Alaska State Representative Cathy Tilton, who was among many attendees for the groundbreaking. “One of the things I like the most is that it’s a public-private partnership, and the fact that the community was involved, the Borough was involved, MEA, that’s the way we need to do projects in the future,” adding that she believes when the private sector is involved, it benefits everyone.

After the groundbreaking guests were then taken on a walking tour of the area that has already been mulched and where work will begin on piledriving.

“Alaska’s a great place, and I appreciate those who have vision and are willing to take a slight risk. This is going to have returns,” said Governor Dunleavy.

The Governor remarked that this was the second event he had attended in the last several weeks in which the Borough had been making use of the land; the first being the 7th Summit Shooting Range, which had its own groundbreaking earlier this month.

Completion is expected at the end on next summer.