Solar at Loyola
Caring for our common home: Loyola moves to 100% renewable electricity
In April 2023, Loyola University Chicago announced a bold new commitment to purchase electricity from 100 percent renewable sources. Double Black Diamond Solar supplies all the electricity needed to power the University's Chicago-area campuses.
Double Black Diamond is a large-scale solar project operated by Swift Current Energy. The nearly five-mile-wide solar farm near Springfield, Illinois, is the largest solar project east of the Mississippi River and can power over 100,000 homes. In addition to Loyola, the project now powers the City of Chicago's municipal buildings and airports as well as other government and corporate customers. The project will provide significant tax revenue to Sangamon and Morgan Counties and a workforce development agreement to provide funds to the Chicago Urban League create new green jobs. An educational agreement with Swift Current allows for Loyola's students and faculty to visit the site, guest lectures in classes, and data sharing for research.
The shift to renewable electricity was crucial in achieving carbon neutrality--a goal Loyola established in its 2015 Climate Action Plan. The University achieved this goal in December 2024, becoming one of only 15 carbon-neutral universities nationwide. In the years ahead, Loyola aims to continue to lead the way in supporting student’s experience with sustainability. Future goals include becoming a zero-waste campus and completely decarbonizing campus facilities through actions such as phasing out natural gas use in campus facilities.
Loyola's ongoing commitment to environmental sustainability reflects the University's core Jesuit values of caring for humanity and answering Pope Francis's call to "care for our common home," as described in his encyclical, Laudato Si'.
The dashboard below is a live view at the current and cumulative production of the Double Black Diamond project provided by Swift Current. Please note, this is the full site's production. Loyola's portion of the project is 38 MW out of a 593 MW project (~6%).
In Loyola's effort to explore solutions to meet the goals of the 2015 Climate Action Plan, it was clear that the limits of on-site capacity for renewable energy given the urban context of the campuses. Following a wave of off-site power purchase agreements by corporate buyers and some colleges and universities, Loyola worked with a consultant to consider what a sustainable clean energy project might look like. A team from the Facilities Department and Office of Sustainability worked with the our contractors to evaluate wind and solar projects from across the country and selected Constellation Energy and the project developer Swift Current for a "sleeved" power purchase agreement as part of a retail electricity procurement.
This contract will serve 100% of Loyola's Illinois-based electricity use from Jan. 1, 2025 through Dec. 31, 2037. Benefits of this project include:
- Domestic content - All steel & trackers and a majority of the 1.6 million solar panels were made in the United States.
- Local economic development - The project is expected to return significant tax revenue to rural Morgan and Sangamon Counties.
- Workforce development - The project had to meet strict apprenticeship and union requirements and provided funding for Chicago Urban League for a green jobs training program.
Specific to Loyola, there is an educational agreement with Swift Current to share data, allow for site visits, and arrange for staff guest lectures in Loyola classes.
Photo courtesy of Swift Current Energy.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Loyola's Solar Project
Pictured from left to right are Loyola School of Environmental Sustainability Graduate Students Drew Pellico, Thomas Brelage, LUC Director of Sustainability Aaron Durnbaugh, Energy Manager Brian O'Malley, SES Faculty Gilbert Michaud, and LUC Director of Neighborhood Initiatives Summur Lawson.
Caring for our common home: Loyola moves to 100% renewable electricity
In April 2023, Loyola University Chicago announced a bold new commitment to purchase electricity from 100 percent renewable sources. Double Black Diamond Solar supplies all the electricity needed to power the University's Chicago-area campuses.
Double Black Diamond is a large-scale solar project operated by Swift Current Energy. The nearly five-mile-wide solar farm near Springfield, Illinois, is the largest solar project east of the Mississippi River and can power over 100,000 homes. In addition to Loyola, the project now powers the City of Chicago's municipal buildings and airports as well as other government and corporate customers. The project will provide significant tax revenue to Sangamon and Morgan Counties and a workforce development agreement to provide funds to the Chicago Urban League create new green jobs. An educational agreement with Swift Current allows for Loyola's students and faculty to visit the site, guest lectures in classes, and data sharing for research.
The shift to renewable electricity was crucial in achieving carbon neutrality--a goal Loyola established in its 2015 Climate Action Plan. The University achieved this goal in December 2024, becoming one of only 15 carbon-neutral universities nationwide. In the years ahead, Loyola aims to continue to lead the way in supporting student’s experience with sustainability. Future goals include becoming a zero-waste campus and completely decarbonizing campus facilities through actions such as phasing out natural gas use in campus facilities.
Loyola's ongoing commitment to environmental sustainability reflects the University's core Jesuit values of caring for humanity and answering Pope Francis's call to "care for our common home," as described in his encyclical, Laudato Si'.
The dashboard below is a live view at the current and cumulative production of the Double Black Diamond project provided by Swift Current. Please note, this is the full site's production. Loyola's portion of the project is 38 MW out of a 593 MW project (~6%).
In Loyola's effort to explore solutions to meet the goals of the 2015 Climate Action Plan, it was clear that the limits of on-site capacity for renewable energy given the urban context of the campuses. Following a wave of off-site power purchase agreements by corporate buyers and some colleges and universities, Loyola worked with a consultant to consider what a sustainable clean energy project might look like. A team from the Facilities Department and Office of Sustainability worked with the our contractors to evaluate wind and solar projects from across the country and selected Constellation Energy and the project developer Swift Current for a "sleeved" power purchase agreement as part of a retail electricity procurement.
This contract will serve 100% of Loyola's Illinois-based electricity use from Jan. 1, 2025 through Dec. 31, 2037. Benefits of this project include:
- Domestic content - All steel & trackers and a majority of the 1.6 million solar panels were made in the United States.
- Local economic development - The project is expected to return significant tax revenue to rural Morgan and Sangamon Counties.
- Workforce development - The project had to meet strict apprenticeship and union requirements and provided funding for Chicago Urban League for a green jobs training program.
Specific to Loyola, there is an educational agreement with Swift Current to share data, allow for site visits, and arrange for staff guest lectures in Loyola classes.
Photo courtesy of Swift Current Energy.