BATESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC), in partnership with renewable energy giant RWE, cut the ribbon Wednesday on its 80-acre Midway Solar Facility, located on 135 acres of land outside of Batesville.

With more than 17,000 solar panels manufactured by Qcells in Dalton, GA, CVEC President and CEO Gary Wood said the eight-megawatt facility is already producing electricity for members from Batesville to the top of Wintergreen Mountain, and from Afton to Lovingston and out to Covesville.

“It’s really a significant project that helps a lot of folks,” Wood told the gathering of about a hundred people.

CVEC Vice Chairman of the Board Jace Goodling said this is the fourth, and largest, of their solar facilities in Central Virginia. The others, all at five-megawatts apiece, are Palmer Solar just south of Zion Crossroads in Troy, Cunningham Solar just off South Boston Rd. in Palmyra, and Martin Solar in Goochland County near the Fluvanna County line in Kent’s Store.

None of these facilities are in sight off any mains roads, which Wood said is the way CVEC prefers it.

Although Midway is near the village of Batesville, one has to turn onto Craig’s Store Rd. at Batesville Market and drive about 2 miles down the road past residences and some farms to get to the facility.

“It is wonderful to see this wonderful local cooperative-driven energy project come to fruition,” Ann Mallek, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors’ White Hall Representative, said. “Because we need all-of-the-above to be able to have as light an impact on our environment as we possibly can for our energy needs.”

She also gave kudos to Wood and CVEC customers who told the cooperatives they wanted this project.

“Many have chosen to invest in solar generation at their homes and businesses, collectively installing more than 10 megawatts of solar capacity across our service territory,” Goodling said.

Both Wood and Goodling said the project goes toward CVEC’s full objective of reliability and affordability.

Goodling said locally generated renewable energy is part of a strategy that will bring costs and electric bills down.

“The cost of electrons are not going up that much,” Goodling said. “Prices are going through the roof because of the fees and surcharges (that are) totally out of our control, that we’re charged to get the power from where it’s generated to our members here in our territory. One of those fees went up 1500%.”

The impacts of this clean energy project, according to a CVEC release, will take 1389 gas-powered vehicles off the road, avoid 6392 metric tons of CO2 emissions each year, and reduce gasoline use by 719,397 gallons a year.