Fast Food Sustainability: Dozens of McDonald’s and Wendy’s Locations Invest in Community Solar
More than 30 McDonald’s and Wendy’s restaurants in northern Illinois have enrolled in a new community solar subscription project.
Each of the franchised locations expect to save $20,000 annually on electricity costs over the next 20 years. Collectively, the franchise group estimates the move could save $1 million by 2045.
“It was an easy decision. A lot of our restaurants are open early and close late. And some are open 24 hours a day, so we use a lot of electricity,” Mike Allegro of All Star Management, the franchisee that owns all 31 participating locations, said in a statement.
Perch Energy, a community solar service provider, manages the community solar program and the associated solar farms totaling 8 MW in Rockford and Pontiac, Ill. As subscribers, the McDonald’s and Wendy’s locations will receive discounts on their electric utility bills when the solar installations generate renewable electricity.
The group expects to see approximately $500,000 in savings during the first round of community solar subscriptions.
As Perch Energy expands the Rockford and Pontiac solar installations, the restaurants will have the opportunity to expand their subscription and purchase additional renewable energy capacity that could potentially save the restaurants $1 million over 20 years.
Community solar benefits subscribers and the local community
By sourcing renewable energy from a community solar project, the restaurants can realize lower energy costs and reduce emissions associated with their operations without the expense of installing on-site solar arrays at each location.
The locally produced renewable energy also increases the resiliency and reliability of the local power grid and helps utility ComEd meet its renewable energy requirements.
“This partnership shows how beneficial community solar can be for all customers. Any business, organization, municipality, family or individual—really the whole community—stands to benefit from energy savings with community solar,” said Bruce Stewart, president and CEO of Perch Energy. “It’s the local McDonald’s and Wendy’s, but it’s also the school, the apartment building, the homeowner and all of Main Street that gets to access savings in a real way.”
The fast track for fast food renewable energy
As fast food franchise owners look for ways to reduce energy costs and meet corporate mandates to reduce carbon emissions, many are turning to renewable energy resources.
More than 130 Wendy’s locations in New York, Illinois and Massachusetts enrolled in a community solar project operated by Ampion Renewable Energy last year.
Others, including Chick-fil-A and Wendy’s locations in California, have opted to purchase renewable energy via energy-as-a-service agreements. In these cases, solar-powered microgrids are installed on-site by a microgrid developer. The developer owns and operates the system, selling the restaurant clean electricity at a reduced rate for the life of the contract.
Commercial Microgrids will be part of content at Microgrid 2025
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