Clean power and community trust for the data center buildout
AI is driving the fastest growth in electricity demand in a generation. Hyperscalers need clean megawatts on the grid, and they need the communities around their data centers on their side. Volt Energy Utility delivers both.
Utility-scale solar and storage for data center load
Volt originates and co-develops utility-scale solar and storage with experienced development partners. Microsoft’s FY26 community-benefits white paper cites Volt’s 250 MW PPA as a case study. Data center operators buy the power through a standard PPA or virtual PPA, and each project funds community investment in the data center communities located near it.
Investment that reaches the data center community
Every Volt Community Impact PPA includes a separate funding agreement that directs investment to the places near each project, including the communities where our clients operate data centers.
Volt originates and co-develops utility-scale solar and storage with experienced partners.
The buyer signs a traditional PPA or VPPA. A separate Community Impact Funding Agreement sets Volt’s contribution and the fund’s governance.
Sharing the Power Foundation, an independent 501(c)(3), manages the funds with local partners and reports on outcomes.
From megawatts to community benefit: Hickory Solar
Read the EDP Renewables press release →“We’re pleased with EDPR NA and Volt Energy Utility’s collaboration on Hickory and the positive impact the project will have with community grants and investing in future renewable energy leaders.”
Kourtney Nelson Former Senior Director of Renewable Energy Procurement, Microsoft
Volt Energy Utility and EDP Renewables co-developed Hickory Solar, a 110 MW utility-scale solar project near Jerseyville, Illinois, which came online in November 2024. Microsoft purchases its electricity and renewable energy credits under Volt’s Community Impact PPA.
Sharing the Power Foundation manages Hickory’s community investments, supporting grants for clean air and water, energy assistance, and workforce training in the community where Microsoft has a data center, in the same region as Hickory.
Hickory’s workforce investments include grants to Lewis and Clark Community College and Macedonia Development Corporation, building local talent for the clean energy and data center economy.
- Capacity
- 110 MW solar
- Location
- Jerseyville, IL
- Buyer
- Microsoft
- Online
- November 2024
- Structure
- Community Impact PPA
- Developers
- Volt Energy Utility & EDP Renewables
We build trust before the deal, not after it
As data centers and large energy projects face growing community resistance, Volt and the Sharing the Power Foundation bring residents, local officials and corporate partners to the same table. The Foundation hosts forums, policy conferences and listening sessions, and provides plain-language education on energy, water and tax impacts so communities can weigh projects from knowledge rather than rumor.
At the 2026 Tunica Policy Conference in Mississippi, Gilbert Campbell joined the “Equity in the Age of AI” panel hosted by Congressman Bennie Thompson, alongside Congressman Jim Clyburn and community leaders, on how data centers and clean energy development can create lasting local opportunity.
Workforce investment where projects are built
Volt’s Community Impact PPAs fund workforce training in the data center and solar project communities they support. For Hickory Solar, Sharing the Power Foundation has made workforce investments at Lewis and Clark Community College and Macedonia Development Corporation, and partners such as Coalfield Development have retrained and placed 2,500+ workers in good-paying jobs. Sharing the Power’s HBCU Energy & Sustainability Fellowship has placed 90+ fellows in paid roles in energy, technology, sustainability and other industries.
2026 fellows were placed at organizations including
- Microsoft
- Amazon
- Meta
- Southern Company
- Exelon/Pepco