Alliant Energy has completed its Wautoma Solar Project, a 99 MW solar array in the Waushara County town of Dakota and city of Wautoma, spanning 624 acres and consisting of nearly 240,000 solar panels. 

“The completion of this project is a major accomplishment that will deliver safe, reliable, cost-effective energy to our customers for decades,” says Alliant’s Ben Lipari.

“This project has been, and will continue to be, a collaborative effort with our participating landowners, local officials and the broader Waushara County community. A unique aspect of our project design included the repurposing of land at the Wautoma airport, which allowed us to diversify the project layout and maximize the value of underutilized land. Our development and construction of this project demonstrated our core values to ‘Act for tomorrow’ and ‘Make things better.’”

Construction on the project began in July 2022 and employed nearly 150 carpenters, electricians, operating engineers and laborers. 

“Alliant Energy’s use of local contractors and the skilled craftsmanship of workers hired through local union halls ensured this project was completed safely, cost effectively and on time,” says Ted Gumieny, executive director of Northeastern Wisconsin Building Trades.

“Logging over 210,000 hours work without a single lost-time accident speaks to the importance of safety and the skill that local union workers contributed to this project. The Wautoma Solar Project is a high-quality site that Alliant Energy’s customers and the community can all be proud of.”