State regulators approve largest solar project in Wisconsin history

State regulators this week paved the way for the largest solar energy project in Wisconsin’s history, expected to generate enough electricity to power more than 200,000 homes.

The Vista Sands Solar Project will be built on more than 6,000 acres in Portage County. It will generate more than 1,300 megawatts and feature 300 megawatts of battery storage. It’s more than four times the size of the Badger Hollow Solar Farm, currently the biggest solar project online in Wisconsin.

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin unanimously approved construction of the roughly $2 billion project Thursday. 

It’s being developed by Vista Sands Solar LLC, a subsidiary of Doral Renewables, a green energy company based in Philadelphia. The company hopes to begin construction by early 2026 and to complete the project in two to three years.

No electric utilities in the state are currently attached to the project, but developers say they’ve had early discussions with utilities that could purchase power from the site.

PSC Chair Summer Strand said the battery storage component would allow the project to improve reliability during peak demand. She also said the project would bring a host of environmental and economic benefits.

“This would be by far the largest solar project in the state of Wisconsin and one of the largest in the upper Midwest,” Strand said. “This is one of the most beneficial and impactful renewable energy projects ever proposed in Wisconsin.”

The project will create roughly 500 jobs during construction and about 50 permanent jobs, according to Doral Renewables.

The solar farm will also result in more than $6 million in annual utility aid payments to Portage County and the municipalities hosting the site, the developer said.

“This would be a significant increase to their township budgets, and then a good proportion also goes to Portage County,” said Jon Baker, vice president of development for Doral Renewables and project manager for the Vista Sands. “What’s great about the $6.5 million that will be paid to the townships and county is that we don’t require any additional services as part of that.”

Beyond economic benefits, a report filed earlier this year with the PSC found the Vista Sands project — in just its first year of operation — would offset more than 1.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide released into the air. 

In a statement, Katie Nekola, general counsel for the nonprofit Clean Wisconsin, said the Vista Sands project represents the “biggest step toward curbing Wisconsin’s carbon emissions” in state history.

“Deployment of clean energy on this scale will do more to advance state energy policy than has any construction project in Wisconsin to date,” Nekola said. 

The Vista Sands project is also expected to bring water benefits like reducing contamination in the region and boosting aquifer levels, according to Clean Wisconsin. The solar farm is expected to take 56 high capacity wells out of normal operation and reduce the amount of fertilizer and insecticide used in the area.

While the project is anticipated to bring environmental benefits, it did face criticism during the approval process due to fears that it could harm the greater prairie-chicken population.

However, Strand said the developer went “above and beyond” to address those concerns by committing not to build in areas of the highest concentration of prairie-chickens, and by developing risk assessment and conservation strategies to minimize the impact to prairie-chickens.

The PSC chair said the developer also agreed to work with the state Department of Natural Resources to protect the prairie-chickens and other wildlife, and pledged to spend $2.1 million on the DNR’s greater prairie-chicken management plan.

“Vista Sands listened to concerns raised about the project’s potential impact on prairie-chickens, and, in response, developed and committed to numerous meaningful solutions and resources to address those concerns,” Strand said.

Even before submitting an application to regulators, Baker said developers held meetings with stakeholders to make sure the application reflected a willingness to avoid sensitive wildlife areas.

“Ultimately, what we asked for approval on really reflected that almost 18 months of discussion and collaboration, and we don’t think it ends now,” he said. “We will be happy to engage with local conservation groups for further ways in which we can protect the species and enhance the habitat.”

During Thursday’s meeting, Commissioner Kristy Nieto also said she counted around 20 concessions or compromises made by the developer to address concerns from interested parties.

“This isn’t something that we always see, but this should be the approach taken by all developers who are building energy infrastructure in our state,” Nieto said. “Not just (for) developers, but regulated utilities as well.”