Rice University announced that it has signed what it termed a "landmark" energy agreement with MP2 Energy.

According to Rice, "the one-year agreement will provide approximately 7 percent of the university’s purchased electricity from solar power. The solar energy will come from First Solar Inc.’s Barilla Solar Project."

"Rice will be paying the same rates for solar energy, which historically has been much more expensive, as it would for traditional gas- or coal-generated energy," Rice said.

Rice said that, "this is the first time off-site solar power is being delivered to a commercial entity on a short-term contract, without state or utility incentives in a deregulated market."

For more on how the transaction was structured, see Rice's news post