40-acre solar farm begins to power J.B. Hunt headquarters

by Jeff Della Rosa (JDellaRosa@nwabj.com) 869 views 

Officials recently gathered for the opening of a solar facility that provides energy for the J.B. Hunt Transport Services headquarters in Lowell. (photo courtesy of J.B. Hunt Transport)

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. has opened a solar array in Gentry that’s expected to offset up to 80% of the electricity used by its three main corporate campus buildings in Lowell, the company announced Wednesday (Jan. 29).

The 40-acre J.B. Hunt Solar Facility includes nearly 18,000 solar panels and more than 10,000 bi-facial solar modules to capture sunlight, which is converted to electricity and transmitted to a nearby electric grid for Carroll Electric Cooperative Corp.

Construction of the array started in 2024. NextEra Energy managed the project, which Verogy completed. Trio, formerly Edison Energy, and Carroll Electric provided consulting services throughout planning and development. J.B. Hunt declined to discuss the cost to build the solar facility.

In January 2022, the Arkansas Public Service Commission approved the 4.99-megawatt array as a net-metering facility with grandfathering, which allows the rate structure to remain in effect until June 1, 2040, according to regulatory documents. The approved rate structure allows electricity generated by the array to receive a 1-to-1 retail rate credit and for an initial grid charge of zero.

In November 2021, J.B. Hunt purchased 39.93 acres southwest of Peterson and Shelley roads in Gentry from Hill Family Trust for $500,000, according to Benton County property records.

Regulatory documents show Carroll Electric is the electricity provider for J.B. Hunt’s corporate headquarters. The array is in the electric cooperative’s service area. The cooperative has provided about 13 million kilowatt-hours of electricity to J.B. Hunt annually. The array is expected to produce about 9.3 million kilowatt-hours per year. The array’s useful life is expected to be 30 years.

“By commissioning this solar facility, J.B. Hunt is demonstrating our commitment to enhancing the communities we serve and to investing in economically viable practices aimed at creating a more sustainable supply chain,” said Greer Woodruff, executive vice president of safety, sustainability and maintenance at J.B. Hunt. “The annual amount of clean energy generated by the J.B. Hunt Solar Facility will be equivalent to that used by nearly 1,200 homes. And, by drawing power from the sun and not a carbon-based source, the carbon dioxide kept from entering the atmosphere will be equivalent to eliminating 1,400 passenger vehicles from the road each year. This is a great example of how we can create a more sustainable Northwest Arkansas for future generations who will also call it home.”

In 2023, J.B. Hunt surpassed the halfway mark to achieving its goal to reduce its carbon emission intensity 32% by 2034 from 2019 levels.

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