LAKELAND, Fla. — After city commissioners unanimously approved a $4.2 million deal earlier this week, Lakeland officials are moving forward with plans to build the city’s first solar-powered microgrid community.

The project is a partnership between Lakeland Electric, Highland Homes and Block Energy.

What You Need To Know

  • Lakeland commissioners unanimously approved a $4.2 million deal to construct a solar-powered microgrid community

  • The project is a partnership between Lakeland Electric, Highland Homes and Block Energy

  • Homes in the subdivision will create, store and use their own solar energy

  • Developers are aiming to have the homes constructed by 2026

The new neighborhood, which will be called Myrtlebrook, will have 77 solar-powered homes with an average lot size of 6,000 square feet. Instead of relying on energy from a traditional power plant, homes in the community will create, store and use their own solar energy.

Mike Dammer is overseeing the project and believes this type of living could be the future.

“Lakeland Electric is looking at where utilities are going in the future,” said Dammer, the utility company’s emerging technologies manager. “We’ve been doing this for 120 years and we’ve sort of been doing the same thing. And now the entire energy community is seeing new and different coming forward and this is a really exciting opportunity for us to take the next step into what is the future of energy.”

The goal is for the subdivision to be 75% self-sufficient in its energy production. Dammer explained that the microgrid model not only has environmental benefits, but can also prevent homes from losing power during storms and other disturbances.

“If we have a large transmission line or distribution line outside of the community that’s bringing power in and we have a situation where a car runs into a pole, or squirrels or trees get into the wires, that community would go dark — through no fault of their own, obviously," he said. "In this situation, because the power is produced right there it’s a much shorter distance.”

Block Energy has already built a similar community in Wimauma with Tampa Electric, which saw success weathering Hurricane Ian.

“All of the power was out for up to three days surrounding that community and yet that community saw no interruption at all,” said Gary Oppedahl, Block Energy’s vice president of emerging technologies. “They didn’t even have to reset their microwave clocks. This is not a backup system, it is the system. It just works in normal backup situations.”

The Lakeland project is still in its early stages. Developers plan to break ground on the site near Dr. N.E. Elementary School in 2024. Construction on the homes is expected to be finished by 2026.