Bemidji Breaks Ground on Solar Arrays at Five City-Owned Facilities

Construction crews from Wolf Track Energy were on the roof of Bemidji's Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant before April began, starting work on a solar array that city officials project will cut roughly $8,000 from the plant's annual electricity costs once it begins generating power this summer.

The $155,124 project is structured so that Bemidji taxpayers carry almost none of the direct cost. Approximately 70 percent of the bill is covered by a Minnesota Department of Commerce Solar on Public Buildings grant, with the remaining 30 percent offset by a federal tax credit. City Engineer Sam Anderson has been managing the project alongside Public Works and Planning staff, and the array is expected to be substantially complete and producing power before the end of summer 2026.

That $8,000-per-year projection represents about 30 percent of the wastewater plant's total electricity consumption, a real reduction for a facility that runs energy-intensive equipment around the clock.

The wastewater plant is the first of two solar packages the Bemidji City Council approved in late 2025. A second, larger project budgeted at approximately $550,000 will install arrays at four additional city-owned buildings: the Sanford Center, Fire Station No. 2, the Neilson Reise Arena, and the City Park warming house. That project will rely on the same Solar on Public Buildings and federal tax credit financing structure, and is expected to advance once the remaining grant and tax-credit paperwork is finalized.

City officials cited the pressure of grant deadlines as a key reason for moving quickly after the late-2025 council approvals. Locking in funding now also gives the city protection against future energy price increases, with facilities like the Sanford Center and the Neilson Reise Arena carrying substantial electrical loads year over year.

The City of Bemidji will post construction and operational updates to its Facebook page as work at each site progresses.