Spartan Renewable Energy (Spartan) is one of seven member-owners of Wolverine Power Cooperative (Wolverine). It was created in 2006 with the goal of selling power at retail under Michigan’s Electric Choice Program.

The long-term vision for Spartan has always been the development of renewable energy projects. For this reason, it was set-up as a for-profit corporation. As a for-profit entity, it can use the Investment Tax Credit to help reduce the overall cost of renewables for the cooperative family.

In 2016, Spartan began the journey to bring that long-term vision to life. Construction of the SpartanSolar-Wolverine array began early this fall and it will be commercially operational before the end of this year. Located across from Wolverine’s headquarters on M-55 between Cadillac and Lake City, this project will be the largest solar array in northern Michigan.

“With the increased desire for solar power in Michigan, including in the distribution cooperative’s service territories, third party vendors began knocking on the cooperatives’ doors. It simply made sense to the Wolverine family that one of its own members would be the partner to bring solar to the cooperatives,” said Kim Molitor, CEO of Spartan.

“Building a larger-scale solar array allows Wolverine’s member-owners to offer energy to their retail members at a competitive cost because Spartan can leverage economies of scale and take advantage of the tax credit,” says Molitor.

“We’re a close family and communication has been key to making this a successful project,” says Molitor.

For more information about Spartan go to spartanrenewable.com. For more information regarding the solar array, visit spartansolar.com.