The City of Minneapolis signed subscription agreements with four solar garden operators this week.
 
Approximately 7.5 million kilowatt hours of solar energy will become available for use in the City’s government buildings. That amount equates to roughly 7 percent of the city’s annual electricity use and is expected to save it $28,000 in electricity costs in the first year.
 
The Metropolitan Council and the Clean Energy Resource Team coordinated the solar garden subscription agreement.
 
Minnesota’s solar industry has been surging lately. Solar installation expansion plans in the state currently outrank all but California and North Carolina. Workforce numbers in the industry have also more than doubled in two years.
 
Last year, more than one-fifth of electricity generated in Minnesota came from renewable resources, a threefold increase to the amount created a decade ago.