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Representatives from Middlebury College, Encore Renewable Energy, and Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company came together October 24 for a ribbon cutting event celebrating the activation of a five-megawatt solar array that provides the College with 40 percent of its total electricity.
Middlebury College President Laurie Patton cut the ribbon to officially open the South Street Extension solar array on Thursday, Oct. 24, unveiling a project that will now provide 40% of the college’s total electricity. The college hosted the event along with the developer, Encore Renewable Energy, and owner and operator, Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company.
Representatives from Middlebury College, Encore Renewable Energy, and Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company came together October 24 for a ribbon cutting event celebrating the activation of a five-megawatt solar array that provides the College with 40 percent of its total electricity.
100% Renewable Energy, Educational Integration
Vermont isn’t what we think it is. At least, Vermont isn’t the place I thought it was or the place many of my peers think it to be. Coming to Vermont as a student from the Midwest, I was eager to become immersed in the land of politicians like Bernie Sanders, and values of environmentalism and justice. These, along with maple syrup, mountains and cows, are the basic traits of the Vermont stereotype and likely are some of the things that drew many students to Middlebury. In fact, a key pillar of the admissions info session I attended back in the summer of 2019 was that a prospective student could not understand the college without understanding the context of the wonderful state in which it exists.
100% Renewable Energy, Campus Energy Conservation, Divestment from Fossil Fuels, Educational Integration, Justice
Middlebury’s new plan builds on a history of thinking holistically about sustainability. In 2007, then-President Ron Liebowitz signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, and the campus achieved carbon neutrality within ten years - a story shared in . The college has won for its integrated approach to sustainability, including campus operations and curriculum. The new integrated plan also includes ambitious targets for using the college endowment’s investment strategy to fight climate change.
100% Renewable Energy, Campus Energy Conservation
Middlebury College recently began construction on a 298-bed, 87,000-sq.-ft. residence hall to house first-year students starting in fall 2025, following a groundbreaking ceremony June 26 at the Vermont campus.
Middlebury Project is a Case Study in Balancing Solar and Bird Habitat
This summer, MiddLab worked with Jack Byrne (Dean of Environmental Affairs and Sustainability; Director of Franklin Environmental Center) and two interns from the Sustainability Solutions Lab (Emily Hogan ‘24 and Oscar DeFrancis ’24.5) to create a codebook for the extensive Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHGI) dataset that the institution has been developing and using to track emissions at the institution since 2007.
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100% Renewable Energy, Campus Energy Conservation, Divestment from Fossil Fuels, Educational Integration, Justice
The South Street project can also contribute to a greener future—and lower energy bills—in ways beyond clean power generation. Green Mountain Power (South Street’s utility offtaker) intends to add onsite energy storage, which will make the project’s clean energy even more reliable and cost efficient.1 The pairing of solar plus storage can lower consumer power bills by deploying cheaper saved energy during periods of peak demand and emergencies.
