EAGLE POINT SOLAR

Photo in 2011. 923 Peru Road

EAGLE POINT SOLAR. Eagle Point Solar had its grand opening in 2010. In 2013 its corporate offices were located at Suite 108, 900 Jackson Street while its warehouse was found at 923 Peru Road. The president and CEO was Barry Shear. (1)

In 2012 the company installed 847 solar panels on the rooftop of the city-owned Municipal Services Center. In March 2013, an Iowa district court ruling involving Eagle Point Solar had the potential of being a “landmark decision” for solar development in the state. The Iowa Utility Board prohibited Eagle Point from selling electricity to Dubuque from the rooftop installation. The utility board ruling came after the local utility, ALLIANT ENERGY CORPORATION, had protested to the Dubuque City Council in 2011 that the project violated their exclusive right to provide electricity to the city.

The utility argued that Eagle Point would be acting as a utility and encroaching on Alliant’s monopoly territory by selling electricity from its panels to power the building. The Utility Board agreed with Alliant in a March 2012 ruling.

The Polk County District Court, however, found that Eagle Point would not be acting as a utility. The court ruled that the company could sign what was known as a third-party power purchase agreement (PPA) with Dubuque to sell the city electricity from the panels, which were owned by an investor and managed by Eagle Point.

Experts considered the ruling critical to the development of solar installations on city buildings, universities, churches, hospitals and other non-profit institutions in Iowa. Non-profit institutions can not take advantage of the tax breaks considered essential to making solar economical for many property owners. However, a for-profit solar developer could install panels on a non-profit institution’s property, collect the tax benefits and recover its costs with a profit by selling electricity directly to the institution. (2)

The Utility Board appealed the district court decision and the Iowa Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. (3) On July 11, 2014 the Court ruled in favor of the Dubuque company allowing it to sell solar energy "output" to the city from the panel of collectors on the top of the city's public works building. (4) From 2012 until 2014, this installation had generated a total electrical output of 583,778.27 kilowatt-hours. By 2014 this had saved the City more than $5,000. (5)

In 2013 the company announced plans to build Iowa's largest array of solar panels, tripling the size of what is now the state's biggest solar setup. Eagle Point Solar entered into an agreement with Farmers Electric Cooperative which would buy power produced from about 2,000 panels that will cover five to seven acres near Kalona. The co-op, which has about 640 customers, will take ownership of the solar farm after ten years. The operation was expected to eventually produce annually nearly 1 million kilowatt hours of energy. (6)

The favorable ruling in July 2014 had immediate economic benefits to the company. In September, the company announced that it had doubled to tripled its solar installations compared to the previous three years. (7) Company officials anticipated increasing the work force by 50 percent in 2015. The company in September 2014 had 25 full-time employees employed at its facility at 900 Jackson Street. (8) Barry Shear CEO forecast in 2014 that revenues would exceed $4 million. (9) In December the company announced that it had installed more than 2.2 megawatts of solar energy. (10)

In February, 2019 Eagle Point Solar announced it would relocate its offices and operations center to a 30,000-square-foot space at 2400 Kerper Blvd. The company currently had sixty employees with twenty more scheduled to be added by the summer. (11)

On June 3, 2020 officials of the company announced that Barry Shear, the founder of the company, was retiring and transferring ownership to his current management team. In addition two investors, Dennis Buchheit and Toben Murdock, owners of New Eagle Group, would be involved. (12)

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Source:

1. Eagle Point Solar," Website. Online: http://www.eaglepointsolar.com/about-us/staff.html

2. Lydersen, Kari. "Court Sides with Iowa Solar Installer," Midwest Energy News, April 12, 2013. Online: http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2013/04/12/court-sides-with-iowa-solar-installer-in-dispute-with-utility/

3. Murphy, Erin. "Dubuque Company Will Build Largest Solar Panel Array in Iowa," Telegraph Herald, December 4, 2013. Online: http://www.thonline.com/news/tri-state/article_27a4aa84-5d40-11e3-b6b9-0019bb30f31a.html

4. "Ruling Paves Way for Solar Energy Growth," Telegraph Herald, July 16, 2014, p 4A

5. Montgomery, Jeff. "After Court Ruling, Eagle Point Solar Grows," Telegraph Herald, September 11, 2014, p. 3A

6. "Dubuque Company to Build State's Largest Solar Array," KWWL.com, December 5, 2013. Online: http://www.kwwl.com/story/24148438/2013/12/05/dubuque-company-to-build-states-largest-solar-array

7. Montgomery

8. Ibid.

9. Ibid.

10. Montgomery, Jeff. "Iowa Advanced Energy Jobs Could Get Positive Jolt," Telegraph Herald, Dec. 30, 2014, p. 3A

11. "Eagle Point Solar Plots Move, Expansion," Telegraph Herald, February 24, 2019, p. 17A

12. Kruse, John, "A New Era Dawns at Eagle Point Solar," Telegraph Herald, June 4, 2020, p. 3A