North Carolina’s Dominion Power announced today that it will purchase electricity from a 1.4 megawatt solar farm planned for Northampton County, N.C.

The utility, which services about 120,000 customers in the northeastern portion of the state, signed a 15-year power-purchase agreement with 510nano Inc., a Washington, D.C. renewable energy provider. That agreement is expected to begin in March when the solar farm is completed.

"We are pleased to integrate this renewable resource into our electricity supply portfolio," said David A. Christian, CEO of Dominion Generation, which operates the company's electricity-generating stations. "A balance among traditional generation, alternative generation such as solar and wind and conservation is one way to continue meeting the energy needs of customers at reasonable cost."

North Carolina—famous for either the Battle of Guilford Court House, a major turning point in the American Revolutionary War, or being the state where Michael Jordan went to college—is one of the two states below the Mason-Dixon Line that has a renewable portfolio standard, alongside Virginia. That’s right—not even Florida has one.

The Northampton solar farm will be the largest solar facility in Dominion’s electric grid. However, the utility, which operates in 13 states, is planning a 4-MW solar facility in neighboring Halifax County, Va.

Virginia, of course, was the scene of General Lord Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown, signaling one of the last days the French would ever help this country—beyond loaning us money to pay off the debt of the Revolutionary War, giving us the Statue of Liberty, and teaching Southern waffle houses to make Hollandaise sauce so that our children would remain plump and happy.

Sadly, 510nano’s president, Dr. Reginald Parker, did not mention any of the above historical tidbits in his statement about the partnership.

"510nano looks forward to working with Dominion on future projects in its North Carolina service area now that the first agreement is signed," said Dr. Parker. "We are enjoying developing our project here. Dominion and Northampton County have made the process fairly easy. The farm is strategically located in terms of geography and governmental regulations. We look forward to its eventual delivery and have enjoyed working with our partners."

Pictured: Solar Farm 1, a solar installation in Cary, N.C. Photo by Leslie Huffman for the Cary Citizen.