MGE Seeking Approval for More Solar and Battery Storage

In early February, our utility subsidiary, Madison Gas and Electric (MGE), filed a joint application with State regulators, seeking approval to purchase a share of the energy to be generated by the High Noon Solar Energy Center. 

In the application filed with State regulators, the High Noon Solar Energy Center will consist of a 300-megawatt (MW) solar array and a 165-MW battery energy storage system in Columbia County. If the purchase is approved by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, MGE will have approval to purchase 30-MW of solar and 16.5-MW of battery storage.  

The entire project is expected to generate enough energy to serve about 90,000 households. MGE's share of the project would serve about 9,000 households. The application was filed with We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service, both subsidiaries of WEC Energy Group. 

This project is being developed and constructed by High Noon Solar LLC, a subsidiary of Invenergy. Construction is expected to begin in late 2024 with the facility serving customers by the end of 2026. 

The High Noon Solar Energy Center represents another step in MGE's ongoing transition toward greater use of cleaner energy sources to achieve deep decarbonization. By 2030, we expect every MGE electric customer will have 80% fewer carbon emissions from their electricity use simply by being an MGE customer as we work toward net-zero carbon electricity by 2050.