{"id":63415,"date":"2026-03-06T14:39:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T19:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=63415"},"modified":"2026-03-06T14:39:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T19:39:35","slug":"williams-breaks-ground-on-74-8-mw-solar-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/03\/06\/williams-breaks-ground-on-74-8-mw-solar-facility\/","title":{"rendered":"Williams Breaks Ground on 74.8 MW Solar Facility"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Williams joined with Lakeland Electric and City of Lakeland leaders to break ground on a new 74.8-megawatt solar facility that will significantly expand renewable power capacity for the growing Lakeland region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Under a long-term agreement, Williams, an energy infrastructure leader, will design and construct the large-scale solar installation, and Lakeland Electric will purchase the power to help meet rising energy demand with dependable, renewable power. The project expands solar generation within the utility\u2019s portfolio and reflects continued collaboration between the two organizations to deliver reliable service to one of Florida\u2019s fastest-growing communities.
\u201cMore than a century ago, Thomas Edison talked about the promise of harnessing the power of the sun,\u201d said Lakeland City Commissioner Stephanie Madden. \u201cToday we are taking another step toward that future through strong partnerships and thoughtful infrastructure that will help serve Lakeland\u2019s growth.\u201d
Lakeland Electric General Manager Mike Beckham emphasized the importance of infrastructure planning for our growing community. \u201cPartnering with Williams allows us to add additional generation capacity through a long-term agreement that supports dependable service for our customers,\u201d Beckham said. \u201cThis project strengthens our energy portfolio and reflects thoughtful planning for the future.\u201d
The facility will be built on historically mined land, supporting responsible land reuse while delivering 74.8 megawatts of new solar energy capacity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams leaders noted that the project marks another milestone in the company\u2019s continued investment in innovative clean-energy solutions. \u201cWe\u2019re energized to break ground on a project that reflects Williams\u2019 continued investment in innovative energy solutions,\u201d said Jaclyn Presnal, vice president of New Energy Ventures at Williams. \u201cThis solar facility will provide meaningful clean energy generation for the region and underscores the value of strong utility partnerships in building the energy systems of the future.\u201d
Construction will begin immediately, with the facility expected to be operational in December 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Williams:<\/strong> Williams (NYSE: WMB) <\/del><\/s><\/em>is a trusted energy industry leader committed to safely, reliably, and responsibly meeting growing energy demand. We use our infrastructure to deliver one third of the nation\u2019s natural gas to where it’s needed most, supplying the energy used to heat our homes, cook our food and generate low-carbon electricity. For over a century, we\u2019ve been driven by a passion for doing things the right way. Today, our team of problem solvers is leading the charge into the clean energy future. Learn more at <\/em>www.williams.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Lakeland Electric: <\/strong>Lakeland Electric is the third-largest public power utility in the State of Florida, serving 144,000 customers. It is one of the first utilities established in Florida, having begun operations in 1889 before being purchased by the City of Lakeland in 1904. Today, Lakeland Electric’s 246 square mile territory serves the City of Lakeland, Polk City and its environs with affordable, dependable, and sustainable electric power. Learn more at <\/em>www.LakelandElectric.com<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Williams joined with Lakeland Electric and City of Lakeland leaders to break ground on a new 74.8-megawatt solar facility that will significantly expand renewable power capacity for the growing Lakeland… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"12","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDNcLzY0ODM5MjI3MF85ODk5MzkyOTMzNTkzNTJfNTU1ODgwNTQ3NDM4ODU3OTUyNl9uLndlYnA_Zml0PTEwMjQlMkMxMDI0JnNzbD0xIiwidHh0IjoiV2lsbGlhbXMgQnJlYWtzIEdyb3VuZCBvbiA3NC44IE1XIFNvbGFyIEZhY2lsaXR5IiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJoaWdod2F5IiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.0tPpAF228WAlD63iR2Bc9My0sxNS8FM7xcfG6mjU3akMQ"},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[13947],"class_list":["post-63415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-williams-breaks-ground-on-74-8-mw-solar-facility"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63415"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63419,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63415\/revisions\/63419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}