La Crosse County, WI

La Crosse County, Wisconsin originally earned SolSmart Bronze in 2019 and then leveled up to Silver in 2023 by publicizing a variety of solar information on permitting, inspection, consumer protection, and more; training county staff in solar best practices; hosting a PACE financing program that included solar PV as an eligible technology; and publicly posting the status on solar metrics compared to the county’s goals.

• Created an online permitting checklist, increasing transparency for community members and solar installers.
• Reviewed local zoning codes and identified restrictions that intentionally or unintentionally prohibit solar PV development.
• Posted online resources on state-level solar policy and incentives, consumer protection, solar installers, and other materials.
• Installed solar PV for direct use by the county or county-run program or service.
• Aggregated and publicized solar PV and storage-related details on utility interconnection processes, utility-specific resources and regulations, and state/regional regulations and incentives for member-communities to leverage.
• Provided a PACE financing program that included solar PV as an eligible technology.
• Integrated solar PV and energy storage into county planning documents.
• Hosted countywide training for best practices on permitting, inspection, permitting, and zoning as relates to solar PV.
• Collected & posted political subdivision &/or county specific energy targets for solar PV (e.g., # of installations, MW capacity, kWhs generated &/or procured) & progress against stated targets.