Paris Solar Project Designed to Drive Economic Development and Savings

The City of Paris ‘ 1.5 Megawatt (MW) is now installed in collaboration with Today’s Power, Inc. (TPI) of North Little Rock, Arkansas, and marks the start of increasing opportunities to the city of Paris.

According to Mayor Daniel Rogers of the City of Paris, “The City is committed to being a “Green Community, “and we want to lead by example from the City level on behalf of our residents, students, businesses and utility providers — showing the state and the rest of the country that promoting low-carbon projects not only fosters clean energy and efficiency — it also creates incentives for good employment and investment in the city and area.

The 1.5 MW solar array installed for the City of Paris makes up a significant portion of the portfolio of the city’s municipal utility. The project is expected to produce 70,745,150 kWh in the coming 25-years.

The solar field encompasses approximately nine acres of land, which is stationed on North Hickory Street in Paris .The power of the newly completed field will be used to serve all the citizens of Paris.

“As the Mayor of Paris, I’m really proud of this Solar project. I think it will be great for our city and we will be able to say we ‘re a green community to go along with the hydro allocation we utilize today,” said Mayor Daniel Rogers. Combining hydro and solar will result in Paris’ electricity resource comprising approximately 80% clean renewable energy for its citizens.

TPI financed, maintains, and owns 100 percent of the solar array. The city will buy energy produced by the array for the duration of the 20-year deal. This arrangement lowers costs for the city, in part by preserving available federal tax incentives for investments in solar power generating systems.

“This project is an exciting collaboration between the City of Paris, its wholesale provider, TPI and Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperative. This progressive project will allow the City of Paris to promote green energy to help foster economic development which has become a major factor in siting new industrial development. This project truly enhances the quality of life for its residents. This solar project was no easy feat to accomplish for the city council and Mayor Rogers. Bringing a project of this scale online requires tremendous leadership and vision,” said Michael Henderson, President of Today’s Power, Inc. “TPI is extremely proud to partner with the City of Paris on this project”.

The City of Paris’ attention to service and hospitality has made the City a leader in their region. In Paris people always come first, we constantly strive to exceed expectations. Paris is a city in Logan County, Arkansas, United States, and serves as the county seat for Logan County.

Today’s Power was created in November 2014 by Arkansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (AECI) to serve Arkansas’ electric cooperatives but our fellow cooperatives in neighboring states and municipals quickly learned of our program and wanted a “known business partner” to provide their solar system.

Today’s Power is now one of the most qualified renewable energy companies in the nation with more utility scale solar and storage projects than any Arkansas based company.

As an integral part of helping the electric cooperative and public power sector serve their members who are interested in solar and emerging technologies, Today’s Power also designs advanced renewable energy systems for residential and commercial and industrial customers of all sizes.