In May 2016, SMMPA made its first investment in solar generation when it signed a 20-year agreement with Lemond Solar Center, LLC, to purchase all output from the 5 MW Lemond Solar Center. 

Lemond Solar Center came online in June 2017 and is located on approximately 35 acres on the western edge Owatonna. It utilizes roughly 20,500 pole-mounted, photovoltaic solar panels, which follow the sun for increased generation, to produce an average of about 18,000 emission-free kilowatt hours of electricity a day.