Over 30 McDonald’s and Wendy’s Locations in Northern Illinois Partner with Perch Energy to Enroll in Community Solar, Estimated $1M in Savings Over Time

CHICAGO, Jan. 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Perch Energy, a leading community solar provider, announced 31 Wendy’s and McDonald’s locations owned by Mike Allegro of All Star Management across northern Illinois are estimated to save over $20,000 annually for 20 years on their electricity costs from local community solar farms in Rockford and Pontiac. 

This is the latest instance of fast-food chains participating in environmentally friendly practices. Based on the franchises’ energy use through 2024, the fast-food locations would collectively save an estimated $1 million over two decades. In their first round of community solar subscriptions with Perch Energy, the restaurants will lock in about half a million dollars of savings from solar farms producing almost 8 MW of clean electricity. As additional capacity becomes available, the franchises will have the opportunity to double their initial subscription to achieve their estimated $1 million savings potential. The energy produced from these solar farms is the carbon equivalent of avoiding 13,437 metric tons of CO2 emissions, or like removing 3,134 cars from the road each year. 

“It was an easy decision. A lot of our restaurants are open early and close late. And some are open 24 hours a day, so we use a lot of electricity,” said Mike Allegro, the franchise owner. “Everything is more expensive these days, but while the cost of everything else is going up, it’s one bill that Perch and Solar On Earth are helping to bring back down.” 

Small-scale solar farms like the Perch-managed projects in Pontiac and Rockland are accessible through community solar programs to many businesses, renters, and homeowners that pay an electric bill. Solar on Earth, a community solar customer acquisition organization, facilitated the partnership between Perch and Mr. Allegro. Solar on Earth partners with Perch in six states to help individuals and businesses access the cost-savings of clean energy. 

“This partnership shows how beneficial community solar can be for all customers. Any business, organization, municipality, family or individual—really the whole community—stands to benefit from energy savings with community solar,” said Bruce Stewart, President and CEO of Perch Energy. “It’s the local McDonald’s and Wendy’s, but it’s also the school, the apartment building, the homeowner and all of Main Street that gets to access savings in a real way.” 

With community solar, the restaurant chains will receive the benefits of clean energy development without the need for on-site solar panels, allowing for energy savings while supporting the deployment of local clean energy resources. When the solar farms Perch manages produce clean energy, subscribers like Wendy’s and McDonald’s will be compensated through a discount on their electricity bills—without any interruptions to their service, or changes to their utility company. 

By tapping into community solar, Mr. Allegro joins a growing network of businesses enrolled in community solar with Perch—a powerful way for big and small enterprises alike to have an environmental impact and operational efficiency.  

The solar farms Mr. Allegro is subscribed to are located near Rockland and Pontiac which provides those communities with the added benefit of local power generation, which increases the resiliency and reliability of the local energy grid helping the utility—ComEd—meet its renewable energy requirements. They were approved by Illinois’ clean energy program, Illinois Shines which is administered by the Illinois Power Agency. 

The move by All Star Management is a testament to the growing momentum of sustainability in the food service industry. Perch Energy looks forward to supporting additional restaurant chains and businesses to access clean energy throughout Illinois in the years to come. 

About Perch Energy: 
Boston-based Perch Energy is an industry-leading community solar servicer that’s helped renters, homeowners, and businesses save more than $38 million cumulatively in total energy discounts since its founding. To date, Perch has provided services for solar projects which have generated over 2.1 billion kWh of power across Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maine, Maryland, and Minnesota. 

Media Contact

FischTank PR

perch@fischtankpr.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4444965b-d6b2-452f-8edd-2bccbb0fbf47