NEWTON CO., Ga. -Walton Electric Membership Corporation (EMC), a consumer-owned utility with a reputation for energy innovation, has signed a contract with Silicon Ranch on behalf of Facebook for a new solar project as part of its agreement to supply 100 percent renewable energy for Facebook’s data center in Newton County, Georgia, Valdosta CEO reported.

Walton EMC was chosen by Facebook as the power supplier for the Newton Data Center, the ninth such facility in the U.S., when it announced the facility in March 2018.

Silicon Ranch will fund, construct, own and operate the 107-megawatt (MWac) facility, Snipesville, II, in Denton, Georgia, an unincorporated community in Jeff Davis County.

Snipesville II will come online in 2021, and will be Silicon Ranch’s largest Georgia facility, running 350,000 solar modules to track the sun east to west.

The construction phase alone is projected to create more that 500 jobs coming from local hires.