I&M ‘flips the switch’ officially opening St. Joseph Solar Farm

GRANGER, Ind. (WNDU) -I&M and the University of Notre Dame flipped the switch at the new 210-acre solar farm in St. Joseph County.

16 News Now tells us what the solar farm brings to the county besides a new source of sustainable energy.

Even on a cloudy day, these solar panels can still generate some energy.

This is by far I&M’s biggest solar farm, generating more power than all four of their other facilities combined.

With nearly 58,000 panels in place that follow the sun as it moves throughout the day, the St. Joseph Solar Farm will bring enough power to I&M customers to power an additional 2,700 homes.

Notre Dame will purchase 40% of the energy coming from the solar farm, continuing its commitment to a more sustainable future.

“This used to be a farm, farmed by St. Joe brothers that produced the food for the campus. Now, it’s producing energy for the campus so that’s why we call it St. Joe farm. Very appropriate,” said Notre Dame president Rev. John I. Jenkins.

Jenkins says the farm will also bring educational opportunities for students and community members.

Indiana Lt. Governor Susan Crouch says this is an investment with future generations in mind.

“We don’t want to be reliant on foreign sources. We also want to be good stewards of the environment. So, the ability to embrace technology and to be able to cleaner, safer, more sustainable, renewable forms of energy like solar is important,” she said.

I&M’s C.O.O. says they’re still harvesting on what used to be agricultural land, just instead of crops, they’re harvesting watts.

“A lot of what you hear from a farm perspective is we are creating a product. Here it just happens to be energy. When we look holistically about the resources that are available we think there’s a nice balance and enough land to be able to grow crops and do agriculture and provide the renewable energy that you’ll see here today,” said I&M President & C.O.O. Toby Thomas.

Thomas also says this facility will attract businesses to the area who are looking to operate on renewable energy options.

In the spirit of being ‘green energy forward,’ South Bend Mayor James Mueller proclaimed May 6th as Solar Energy Day in South Bend and St. Joseph County.

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