Ever.green Completes 5-MW Baron Solar Project As Microsoft Suppliers Step Up To Buy High-Impact RECs

Ever.green announced the completion of Baron, a 5-megawatt solar project located in Anson County. The project was developed, and will continue to be owned and operated, by Headwater Energy. Ever.green’s model enables businesses of different sizes to take part in the clean energy transition, and this project reflects how coordinated buyer participation can help bring new carbon-free electricity online.

A group of suppliers working with Microsoft—including Slalom Consulting, Centific Technologies, ImagiCorps, BDA, Eleven 11 Solutions, TASA Analytics, and Visionet Systems—signed long-term agreements to purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) from the new solar project.

Their commitments helped the project reach financial close and directly supported Microsoft’s expectations for Carbon-Free Electricity. Under Microsoft’s Supplier Code of Conduct, major suppliers are expected to transition to 100% carbon-free electricity for all goods and services provided to the company by 2030.

According to Edmond Chan, Microsoft aims to help both large and small suppliers take action to cut emissions. The company’s sustainability expectations are designed to encourage suppliers to adopt cleaner energy sources and reduce their overall climate impact.

Small and mid-sized solar projects like Baron often face barriers despite strong technical and financial potential. Developers typically need a certain level of contracted revenue before lenders approve construction financing. Without committed REC buyers, many viable projects cannot move forward.

In this case, the combined REC commitments from the Microsoft suppliers provided the revenue assurance necessary to unlock financing and allow construction to proceed. Unlike spot-market RECs that are usually purchased from existing facilities, Ever.green offers High-Impact RECs—products designed to directly support the creation of new, additional carbon-free energy projects.

These RECs give developers the financial stability required to build new projects, allowing buyers to play a meaningful role in expanding clean electricity capacity. Liz Pearce explained that Ever.green was created to make this kind of collective action feasible. She noted that the participating Microsoft suppliers demonstrate how businesses can contribute to community-level impact while advancing their own sustainability goals and those of their stakeholders.

John Poling emphasized that companies like Slalom influence not only their own operations but also the broader supply chains they participate in. Slalom has committed to reaching 100% renewable energy by 2030, and the Baron project forms an important piece of that commitment.

From the developer’s perspective, Myles Watson noted that Baron Solar represents how new contracting structures can enable projects that might otherwise stall. By partnering with Ever.green and a group of dedicated buyers, the project secured the financial certainty needed to move into construction and operation. Baron Solar is now producing clean energy in Anson County, a rural and low-income community located about 45 miles southeast of Charlotte. The project creates long-term local value by generating additional property tax revenue that supports schools, emergency services, and other essential public services.

Built using domestically manufactured solar panels and local labor, the facility is expected to avoid approximately 7,810 metric tons of CO₂ emissions each year—equivalent to removing around 1,820 cars from the road annually. The electricity generated flows into the regional cooperative system that serves Pee Dee Electric, helping meet local energy needs.

By adding a new source of power with no fuel cost, the project contributes to a more stable and predictable energy mix for the region. While no single project determines consumer electricity rates, renewable projects like Baron help reduce vulnerability to fossil fuel price fluctuations and support more stable long-term energy costs across cooperative systems.