The media giant has signed a 15-year power contract for 250MW of annual electricity from the upcoming Blue Sky Solar Project.
As part of its corporate quest to achieve carbon neutrality, Comcast announced that it has agreed to a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with utility Constellation Energy for the electricity generated by the upcoming Blue Sky Solar Project, currently being developed by Scout Clean Energy in Illinois.
The Blue Sky project is one of the largest solar projects approved to date in the PJM regional transmission organization, which coordinates wholesale electricity in all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia. Set to clock in at 369MW, the project is being developed on 2,700 acres of land near Morris, Illinois in Grundy County. The Blue Sky facility is scheduled to begin commercial operations in 2024, and Comcast’s PPA will begin in 2025.
During construction, the project will create up to 400 construction jobs and 20 new local long-term jobs. Once in operation, Blue Sky is anticipated to generate $36.3 million in tax revenue over the life of the project, including $25.4 million slated to go directly to local schools.
As far as Comcast is concerned, the 250MW the company has contracted annually will power approximately 12% of its U.S. operations and the vast majority of its Mid-Atlantic operations with clean, renewable energy.
“Sourcing clean, renewable energy is the top priority for meeting our goal to be carbon neutral by 2035,” said Peter Kiriacoulacos, executive vice president and chief procurement officer at Comcast. “This marks the first of many major green investments that are already underway or on the immediate horizon which demonstrate our commitment to sustainable, responsible business.”
Scout Clean Energy acquired the Blue Sky Solar project from developer Renewable Energy Systems back in December 2021. Scout is a portfolio company of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, a specialist investment manager focused exclusively on renewables, storage and grid support infrastructure and operational asset management in the US, UK, and Australia.
