ALLETE Clean Energy begins output of 303 MW of wind energy to corporate interests in Oklahoma

For a series of renewable energy sales agreements with McDonald’s Corporation, Hormel Foods, and Oshkosh Corporation, ALLETE Clean Energy began dispersing 303 MW of energy from its Caddo Wind facility in southern Oklahoma this week.

Caddo and another site, Diamond Spring Wind, represent ALLETE Clean Energy’s – a subsidiary of ALLETE, Inc. – largest wind sites. The recent completion of Caddo brings the company’s total wind capacity to more than 1,300 MW and offers a significant addition to its pipeline of owned, operated, and in development clean energy projects, which now total about 1,700 MW across eight states.

“Caddo is a prime example of how ALLETE Clean Energy helps customers achieve their climate action goals by adding renewable energy to the nation’s power supply,” Allan Rudeck Jr., ALLETE Clean Energy president, said. “I am proud of our team and partners who together finalized development of Caddo and brought it to safe and successful commercial operation during a global pandemic. Their effort builds on our reputation for creating cost-effective renewable solutions for customers while driving growth in the expanding clean-energy sector.”

Each of the companies supplied by the new arrangements is a Fortune 500 corporation. In the case of McDonald’s, it’s an extension of its pledge to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and its commitments to the United Nations Race to Zero campaign. For Hormel Foods, Caddo will help the company reach 50 percent of its goal to match 100 percent of its energy with renewable sourcing by 2030. On Oshkosh’s part, the wind site will push it closer to its 25 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions goal (compared to 2014 levels), which it seeks across its facilities by 2024.