A proposed project from the city of Oglesby to build a one-megawatt solar wind farm for Illinois Valley Community College has fallen through. In August last year, Oglesby Mayor Dominic Rivara wrote a letter to Illinois Valley Community College saying that the city would want to build the wind farm on ten acres of land. But last night Rivara announced his frustration with the college after they turned down the proposal at their December Board of Trustees meeting.
He also says the city would have also offered the college a really good deal on electric rates if they decided to annex into the city. But that was also turned down by the board.
Rivara also says the city would have tried to save IVCC up to $550,000 in electric rates over five years. The solar farm would have included four panels and could have been included in their curriculum. He says anyone could look at what happened in Texas in 2021 when their power grid failed and didn’t have another option for it to come back on. IVCC announced last month, it’s getting a $100,000 grant for a solar power array from the Illinois Green Economy Network. You can click here to get the response from IVCC College President Jerry Corcoran about why the college didn’t accept the proposal.