# Budderfly Plans Municipal Solar VPP

In October 2026, Budderfly announced plans to make **$500 million** available to small and midsize U.S. municipalities for solar, battery storage, and other facility upgrades, with participating sites intended to form a 150 MW virtual power plant. Under the proposed no-upfront-cost model, Budderfly would finance, own, operate, and maintain the systems, while cities would pay from energy savings. The financing commitment’s status and project-level terms have not been disclosed. A related example is Cadillac, Michigan’s approximately $4.4 million, 15-year agreement for upgrades at seven municipal facilities.

- Municipal procurement teams can evaluate this provider-financed structure alongside conventional capital-funded energy projects; payments are described as coming from energy savings, rather than upfront municipal investment.
- The planned program could create opportunities for solar, battery storage, facility-efficiency, and related energy-system providers, though the announcement does not identify specific solicitations or project awards.
- Because project terms are not yet available, municipalities and prospective contractors will need to assess the terms in any project-level opportunities, including financing, ownership, operations, maintenance, and savings-based payments.

**Jurisdictions:** sled
**Industries:** Energy & Utilities, Construction & Infrastructure
**Topics:** Physical Infrastructure
**Published:** October 21, 2026

### Government Entities
- City of Cadillac

### Vendors
- Budderfly (Planned financier, installer, owner, operator, and maintainer of municipal energy systems)
- Schneider Electric (Supplier of energy management and automation technology)

### Key Quotes
> Cities are being asked to modernize aging facilities while electricity costs rise and budgets remain tight. The question is how to get that work underway.
> — Al Subbloie, CEO of Budderfly

> Budderfly’s model helps cities move forward without drawing on limited capital budgets.
> — Michele Hix, Vice President, Strategic Customers, North America Operations at Schneider Electric

> without requiring upfront taxpayer investment.
> — Marcus Peccia, City Manager of Cadillac

### Sources
- [Budderfly plans 150 MW municipal VPP with solar, storage in U.S. cities - pv magazine USA](https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/10/21/budderfly-plans-150-mw-municipal-vpp-with-solar-storage-in-u-s-cities) - pv magazine USA