The first-of-its-kind VPPA is for 50MW of solar energy, to be produced in one of the country’s most carbon-intensive grids while reducing Cambridge residents’ carbon emissions in support of the City’s sustainability initiatives
The City of Cambridge today announced a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) for 50MWac of the 135MWac Prairie Solar project, located in Champaign County, Illinois. MN8 Energy, a leading renewable energy company, owns and will construct and operate the project, which BayWa r.e. Americas (BayWa r.e.) developed. This procurement is the largest VPPA undertaken by a city in the United States to date. Additionally, it marks the first time a U.S. city targeted residential, rather than operational, carbon emissions with a VPPA. Boston-based Sustainability Roundtable, Inc. facilitated the transaction through their Net Zero Consortium for Buyers (NZCB), an innovative buyers’ community for utility-scale clean energy.
The VPPA will generate approximately 113,000 MWh of clean energy via the Prairie Solar project. This generation is enough to cover the average annual energy consumption of more than 25,000 Cambridge homes, nearly half the City’s households. By competing with local coal-fired power plants, this solar capacity will also avert significant annual carbon emissions. Had the offtake’s solar been on the grid in 2022, per the EPA’s latest data, it would have avoided 70,510 metric tons of CO2 emissions—equivalent to driving an electric vehicle nearly 317 million miles. Overall, given the greater carbon intensity of Illinois electricity, the offtake will contribute roughly 2.6x the emissions reductions it would have achieved in Massachusetts, where Cambridge also invests in local on-site solar.
“The City of Cambridge has been a climate leader for many years, and today is a monumental step along this path,” said Julie Wormser, Chief Climate Officer at the City of Cambridge. “We’re showing that cities can bring tangible decarbonization and clean energy impacts to their residents and businesses through VPPAs. Cambridge benefits by decreasing our carbon footprint, and Illinois residents get cleaner air to breathe. I am especially grateful for the many City staff—especially Meghan Shaw and Ellen Katz—who co-led the effort to bring this agreement to fruition.”
The agreement between Prairie Solar LLC and the City of Cambridge will bring positive environmental benefits to two regions. Cambridge residents will mitigate their emissions by causing new renewable energy capacity. Champaign County, Illinois, residents will see improved local air quality from the clean energy generation brought by the Prairie Solar project. Prairie Solar is located on the MISO grid, which, at only 32% low-carbon energy in 2023, is especially carbon intensive.
Sustainability Roundtable, Inc. worked closely with City of Cambridge officials to broker the agreement through the NZCB, a confidential renewable energy buyers’ community that enables enterprises and municipalities to chart a cost-effective path to global Net Zero while democratizing the financial and environmental benefits of utility-scale clean energy. The City of Cambridge becomes the latest mission-driven group to pursue a creative and impactful Net Zero solution via the NZCB, following Sustainability Roundtable’s announcement last month of an aggregated VPPA between NZCB Member-Clients Akamai Technologies, Teradyne, and Wayfair.
“The City of Cambridge has been very clear and direct about its mission: combating climate change by procuring RECs from new utility-scale clean energy projects to match its community’s electricity consumption,” said David Osborn, Sustainability Roundtable Inc.’s Chief Financial Officer. “The NZCB and Sustainability Roundtable, Inc.’s expertise in procuring renewables that drive maximum impact, along with the City of Cambridge’s mission-focused leaders, were a perfect match in bringing together a committed buyer with a project bringing new renewables onto a carbon-intensive grid.”
This first-of-its-kind VPPA furthers the City of Cambridge’s commitment to addressing the climate crisis. In 2023, the City passed a major milestone with amendments to the Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance (BEUDO), which mandates that large non-residential buildings reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 and mid-size non-residential buildings achieve the same by 2050.
With Cambridge’s procurement, the NZCB has achieved its goal of causing a gigawatt of new renewable energy capacity before 2025. The procurements that accomplish this goal will generate enough energy to meet the annual average electricity needs of more than 200,000 U.S. homes. The City of Cambridge’s transaction demonstrates the broad range of corporate and institutional partners that can collaborate to cause utility-scale renewables via the NZCB.
About Sustainability Roundtable, Inc.:
Sustainability Roundtable, Inc. (SR Inc) works to be the world’s most respected strategic advisor in enterprise decarbonization. For more than fifteen years, leaders at over 100 Fortune 500 and global growth companies have trusted SR Inc to provide membership-based strategic advisory and support services. SR Inc helps executives set goals, drive progress, and report results as they lead their organizations to more sustainable high performance – all to help align business with life.
SR Inc’s Net Zero Consortium for Buyers (NZCB) is a confidential renewable energy buyers’ community creating transactions favorable for corporate buyers. The NZCB enables enterprises to chart a profitable path to Net Zero emissions globally. SR Inc Member-Clients have made the NZCB the leading transaction platform for corporate aggregated utility-scale renewable energy procurement in North America and Europe.
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