What midsize firms can learn from Organic Valley`s community solar deal

In the scheme of things, the power purchase agreement disclosed last month by dairy cooperative Organic Valley isn`t very big — slightly less than 13 megawatts of solar in phase one of the project. That`s exactly why it’s a noteworthy sign of progress for the corporate clean power procurement movement.

Under the deal announced in late October, the organization has entered into what it describes as a "first-of-its-kind" community solar partnership in collaboration with the Upper Midwest Municipal Energy Group (UMMEG), a joint action agency representing 15 electricity providers from Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota.

"These towns wanted to increase their mix, as did we," said George Siemon, CEO of Organic Valley, in a conversation with GreenBiz. "It`s pretty neat to have this collective make this pledge. We`ve had to learn how to get outside the normal route of procurement to get this done."