
				Pat Quinn, Governor

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Environmental Progress - Winter 2003

Environmental Progress : Winter 2003

Downstate's First Solar Convenience Store Opens

BP outlet will get approximately 20 percent of its energy from the sun

Mac's Convenience Store on Stevenson Drive in Springfield was opened in December 2002 as downstate Illinois' first solar powered convenience store.

Downstate Illinois' first solar-powered convenience store opened in Springfield in December 2002. The Mac's Convenience Store at 2901 Stevenson Drive purchased and installed 280 photovoltaic panels through a partnership with BP, whose fuel it sells, and state Renewable Energy Trust Fund assistance.

IEPA Deputy Director Bernard Killian joined those celebrating the opening of the station, and noted that BP has also partnered with IEPA on such programs as the "Green Pays on Green Days" clean air educational program in the Chicago area and the Governors Environmental Corps summer internship program.

"I am pleased today to salute BP for an even more significant partnership demonstrated by this project today -- BP's partnership with the sun. May it be a shining example for others," he said.

The solar modules will generate 10.1 kilowatts of emissions-free electricity -- enough power to meet about 20 percent of the station's overall energy needs.