For Friday, Feb. 5, 2021

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1 – Eight new solar energy sites are now online, five in Genesee county and three in Saginaw County. 

Consumers Energy says the eight sites were built and are operated by Pine Gate Renewables and owned by Kayne Anderson. 

Consumers has 20-year agreements to purchase the energy from the projects. Each solar farm has a 2-megawatt capacity.

Combined, the solar farms produce up to 16 megawatts, adding to 10 megawatts of solar capacity in the utility’s portfolio. 

Consumers Energy says the new plants are an example of the company’s commitment to solar energy as part of its Clean Energy Plan, which calls for meeting 90 percent of customers’ energy needs through clean sources like renewable energy, energy waste reduction and energy storage.

The eight projects include more than 56,000 solar panels and have employed about 240 local workers through construction.

2 – Attention teachers: The state’s environmental agency is accepting submissions for an Earth Day Poster Contest and Environmental Service Project Award. 

The deadline is Feb. 28. 

The Earth Day Poster Contest is for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. 

Posters will be judged based on a “Restore Our Earth” theme and should include plants, wildlife or ecosystems native to Michigan. 

The artwork can be drawn by hand or digitally created. Each school hosts its own contest for students and submits the top three posters for each grade

The Environmental Service Award competition is for students in sixth through 12th grade. 

Schools are invited to nominate a student, or group of students, for a school-sanctioned, environment-based project, that has tangible results. The project must incorporate the “Restore Our Earth” theme and provide a benefit for plants, wildlife, or ecosystems native to Michigan. 

The winners from both contests will be notified by March 15, and their work will be posted on the state’s Earth Day web page.

– Mr. Great Lakes is heard Friday mornings in Bay City, Michigan, on Delta College Public Radio 90.1 FM (streaming). Follow @jeffkart on Twitter #MrGreatLakes

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