Largest Residential Childcare Community and School in Illinois selects ForeFront Power for solar energy project

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Jun 14, 2018, 12:06 ET

MOOSEHEART, Ill., June 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ForeFront Power and Mooseheart Child City and School ("Mooseheart") are excited to announce that the residential childcare and education community will install 2.8 megawatts (MW) of solar photovoltaic capacity at their campus. The ground-mounted project is expected to save the campus $2.6 million over 20 years while offsetting 114 million pounds of carbon emissions.

Mooseheart is a residential childcare facility, located on a 1,000-acre campus 38 miles west of Chicago. The Child City is a home for children and teens in need, from infancy through high school. Dedicated in July 1913 by the Moose fraternal organization, Mooseheart cares for youth whose families are unable, for a wide variety of reasons, to care for them.

Funded by the Moose Fraternity, Mooseheart contracted with Progressive Energy Group of Aurora, Illinois to perform a thorough analysis of energy efficiency and on-site energy solutions to reduce overall energy expense without burdening its operating budget and the support of its parent organization.

ForeFront Power's solar energy solution for Mooseheart allows the school to install a ground-mounted solar array without any upfront cost. Under this Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) model, ForeFront Power will design, permit, finance, install, and maintain the solar energy project for a 20-year term. In return, Mooseheart simply pays for the electricity generated by the system at a predictable rate.

"We found the right opportunity with ForeFront Power," said Executive Director of Mooseheart Child City & School, Gary Urwiler. "We could not have afforded solar without the current policies in Illinois and the PPA model with no upfront cost. Mooseheart invested $11.4 million into school renovations back in 2013, so we wanted to do something out of the ordinary to impact our energy budget."

Students at Mooseheart will see firsthand how the solar project works and how its energy production impacts the various facilities around the campus. ForeFront Power will install a kiosk with system monitoring as well as implement free energy lesson plans from Schools Power, a leading national education organization that provides school districts with standards-based renewable energy curriculum packages.

"Mooseheart is a unique environment for education because the students actually reside on campus," said Charlie Sohm, Chief Development Officer at ForeFront Power. "We are excited that students will be truly integrated with the adoption of on-site renewable energy while they live and learn on campus."

Mooseheart selected ForeFront Power through a Request for Proposal process that was conducted by Progressive Energy Group. "When our staff met to review the project, it was a no-brainer for us," said Gary Urwiler. "Why wouldn't we take advantage of this? If it goes well, who knows what we do next. The future is bright at Mooseheart."

The solar project will be constructed upon formal certification to receive Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) made possible by the Illinois Future Energy Jobs Act of 2016. It is expected to produce 3.6 million kilowatt-hours of electricity during the first year of operation, the equivalent to nearly 6 million pounds of carbon emissions removed from the grid according to the EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.

For more information about ForeFront Power and solar energy for schools, visit k12.forefrontpower.com.

About ForeFront Power

The ForeFront Power team has more than a decade of renewable industry experience, serving business, public sector, and wholesale power customers around the world. Our team has developed over 800 MW of capacity across more than 1,000 projects, targeted on assisting public sector agencies and C&I firms to deliver the most impactful behind-the-meter, off-site, and wholesale solutions. ForeFront Power is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd., a global energy infrastructure and investment leader.

About Mooseheart Child City & School

Mooseheart is a residential childcare facility, located on a 1,000-acre campus 38 miles west of Chicago. The Child City is a home for children and teens in need, from infancy through high school. Dedicated in July 1913 by the Moose fraternal organization, Mooseheart cares for youth whose families are unable, for a wide variety of reasons, to care for them. Some have lost one or both parents; others are living in environments that are simply not conducive to healthy growth and development. Whatever the reason, the men and women of the Moose, through unparalleled generosity and volunteerism, furnish the resources necessary to care for children in need. The Moose fraternity provides children with a wholesome home-like environment and the best possible training and education.

About Progressive Energy Group

Progressive Energy Group is the premier provider of energy auditing services to reduce operating costs without upfront capital spend. Our team has over 75 years of utility and energy supplier expertise leveraging proprietary methodologies to lower operating costs immediately.

Forward Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words "anticipate", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the Company and are subject to various risks and uncertainties.

SOURCE ForeFront Power