FORT VALLEY, Ga. — Sedrick Rowe lives in Fort Valley and says his power bill gets higher this time of year.
"Power bill is a number one bill that a lot of people struggle with, as far as the household," he says, "In the wintertime, my bill was probably around $140, but now with summer, you're looking at $200-plus."
When he heard about a new solar farm that could make energy bills lower, he was interested to find out more.
"Everyone wants a cool house, and if it's a way to save money, I'm all for it."
Rowe is one person who may have a cheaper energy bill soon, thanks to a deal made between Fort Valley State University and Georgia Power.
By August, a 107-acre stretch of forest owned by the university will be cleared out to make way for solar panels, enough to power up to 10,000 Georgia Power customers.
Professor Cedric Ogden is in charge on the university's end. "It's a land lease agreement -- 35-year land lease agreement -- so we're looking at somewhere between $500 to $600 per acre per year."
Ogden also helped bring solar power to the greenhouses on campus with a number of panels to power the greenhouses.
Once the panels are installed, Georgia Power will be in charge of upkeep and students will have a chance to research how effective they are.
Ogden says the project should be up and running by mid-2020 and students will also have a 3-acre solar farm of their own to do their research.