Co-op Power and Smith College Partner to bring Solar to Local Nonprofits

April 25, 2017: Smith College, a long-time member of Co-op Power, is partnering with the Co-op Power's Community Solar team to develop a local solar financing model for local nonprofits. Under this structure, local investors with real estate interests invest in local nonprofit solar projects, helping to use the solar tax incentives and bring down the overall costs for nonprofits. Nonprofits don't qualify for those tax incentives on their own. This innovative model brings the cost savings of solar to the nonprofit community. Smith College was the first nonprofit to sign on through the pilot phase of this program. Co-op Power has partnered with Resonant Energy, PV Squared, All Energy Solar, Solar One, and Grid Alternatives to finance, design, permit and install these systems. The nonprofits locked in an agreement with a starting electricity price at 10% or more below their current electricity rates. As an example, Smith College estimates it will save $28,292 over the next 20 years on its 25 kW pilot and will have the option to purchase the equipment after 10 years. The first group of projects was financed in April of 2017.  The second group is expected in the summer of 2017.

Co-op Power Puts Localist Spin on Clean Energy Economy

Published May 22nd, 2017 by CleanTechnica. Written by by John Farrell. This is part of a series released in October 2016 for Energy Awareness Month highlighting communities and community energy projects on ILSR’s Community Power Map.

That’s precisely what Co-op Power set out to do when it launched in 2002 in Massachusetts, a state recognized as fertile ground for forward-thinking energy policies. But the organization didn’t want to wait for lawmakers to convert clean energy ambitions into action — instead, it adopted a more hands-on approach and started the work itself.

Over nearly 15 years, Co-op Power has implemented practices that promote local ownership and greater community control. Owned by more than 500 members, Co-op Power includes a half-dozen individual energy co-ops in the northeast.

Economic Development through Renewables

Co-op Power has leveraged its expanding membership base to raise more than $320,000 in equity and $840,000 in member loans to support community-oriented clean energy projects, like solar gardens and a solar-fueled hot water system. That doesn’t include $850,000 in local investment that the organization attributes to its work.

The group started with an emphasis on building out the clean energy economy in New England and New York, backing several new companies that fit into a growing market for renewables and energy efficiency. Its stable includes five solar installers and two electrician outfits, along with Energia, an energy efficiency contractor catering to commercial and multifamily properties.

In the past half-decade, Co-op Power estimates, those businesses together created more than 100 jobs. But while that economic development is a cornerstone of its mission, the organization has lately sharpened its focus on power itself.

Projects it supported in recent years include a 30.6 kilowatt rooftop array for Brattleboro Food Co-op in southern Vermont, near the New Hampshire border. Separately, it paved the way for a 3.5 million-gallon-a-year biofuel manufacturing plant in west-central Massachusetts.

Local Power as a Gateway to Savings

Beyond those, it launched a community solar program in 2015. Projects completed as part of that effort provide locally sourced solar power, generated at a single site, to subscribers from the community. To cash in on solar and avoid utilities’ fossil fuel power, they cover a portion of the project’s upfront costs.

A specialized program within Co-op Power’s portfolio sweetens the deal for faith communities in the Boston area. Through its Boston Interfaith Community Solar Project, the organization aims to bring shared solar power to five houses of worship. It will pull from its own coffers to cover start-up costs.

The program lets the faith communities purchase solar power, reducing their monthly electric bills by as much as 20% over two decades. Others in the area can subscribe to the individual projects to capture similar savings.

Plugging Gaps in the Marketplace

A state study in Massachusetts found that direct ownership of a rooftop solar array provides “a substantially higher economic benefit for the homeowner.” But with only about one-quarter of residences suitable for those installations, community solar plugs a significant access gap. It allows people to see savings even when they can’t install panels directly on their rooftops.

After an array links to the grid, the utility credits subscribers for the electricity produced at the site — money that likely stays local — through a process called net metering.

Federal and state incentives, along with net metering, help offset buy-in costs and accelerate payback for subscribers, but understanding what’s in play can be tricky. Plus, the government regulates exactly how solar proponents can raise capital needed to get their projects up and running.

Co-op Power has mapped out complex legal and accounting structures to allow communities to more easily integrate a shared power source, developed in partnership with local solar installers and other groups.

So far, the organization has supported a trio of community solar installations in New York plus one closer to home in Massachusetts — a portfolio expected to grow as policymakers and communities alike embrace the significant growth potential of the clean energy economy.

To learn more about the national movement toward distributed generation and renewables, visit ILSR’s interactive Community Power Map. The tool showcases programming, policies and projects across the U.S., and compares state-by-state performance. Bookmark it and check back for updates.

This article originally posted at ilsr.org. For timely updates, follow John Farrell on Twitter or get the Energy Democracy weekly update.

Rays the Valley Receives a Solar in Your Community DOE Award

Local Organizations Win a $60,000 US DOE Award to Bring Solar to Local Low and Middle Income Residents and Nonprofits

April 25, 2017, Northampton MA- A collaborative project of local organizations including Community Action, Co-op Power, Climate Action Now, and Mothers Out Front, aims to provide people with limited resources and nonprofits the ability to participate in the solar revolution.  Dubbed ‘Rays the Valley’, the project has just been awarded a U.S. Dept of Energy seed grant to develop community solar electricity projects to benefit local low/moderate income households and nonprofit organizations that have not heretofore been able to benefit from solar electricity in Hampshire and Franklin counties. Saul Perlmutter from Climate Action Now says, “Solar is an important part of our energy future and we don’t want to leave anyone behind.”

The team will participate in the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative’s Solar in Your Community Challenge, a national competition that aims to expand solar electricity access.  Over the next 18 months, Rays the Valley will develop innovative projects to enable low and moderate income households and local nonprofits in Hampshire and Franklin Counties to go solar.  Rays the Valley will join teams from around the country to compete for $1 million in final prizes, which will be awarded by judges based on each project or program’s innovation, impact, and replicability.

Rays the Valley plans to first build a 400 kW array on the roof of a local privately owned building in National Grid territory and offer direct-ownership solar shares to 100 low and moderate income households to lower their electric bills. They will develop other sites for another 1.1 megawatts of solar projects to similarly benefit people with limited resources. Rays the Valley will also build a megawatt of solar arrays on buildings owned by nonprofit organizations to lower their electric bills.  In total, the project will provide 2.5 megawatts clean power into the grid at times of peak demand, thus benefitting all electric customers.

Adele Franks of Climate Action Now emphasized “We need to transition to clean, renewable energy as quickly as possible, in a way that benefits everyone in our community.  This grant gives national recognition to our local commitment to bring about energy efficiency and 100% renewable energy in an equitable way.”

Rays the Valley is now signing up low and moderate income households and nonprofits interested in receiving the benefits of solar electricity, and local municipal governments interested in participating as partners in Hampshire and Franklin Counties. They are also looking for good sites for shared solar arrays.  Interested parties should contact Co-op Power at (413) 772-8898.  Public forums to explain the program will be offered in coming months.

Community Action Director, Clare Higgins, added “We are so happy to have a way for people with lower or moderate incomes to have greener energy through access to affordable solar power." 

Lynn Benander of Co-op Power said “Projects initiated with the help of this funding will spawn many other similar projects in our region. We are very excited to partner with Community Action, Climate Action Now, and Mothers Out Front to build out these important solar projects in our region. It’s important that people with limited resources and nonprofits have access to the same electricity savings that others have had access to for years. The time is right for this model to take off.”

About Rays the Valley partners:

Co-op Power is a consumer-owned energy cooperative dedicated to building a just and sustainable energy future. They use innovative ownership and financing models to bring clean energy to all.

Community Action is the community action program serving Hampshire and Franklin Counties, helping 7,500 low-income households cover their energy costs. The program works to reduce energy consumption, improve heating systems, and help pay a portion of fuel and utility bills.

Climate Action Now is a grassroots organization in the Pioneer Valley comprised of 2500 activists devoted to preserving a livable climate for all people.

Mothers out Front Pioneer Valley is a chapter of a national organization dedicated to creating a healthy climate now and a livable future for all children.  

About the Solar in Your Community Challenge

The Solar in Your Community Challenge, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative and administered by SUNY Polytechnic Institute, is a $5 million prize competition that aims to expand solar access to low and moderate income households; and state, local, and tribal governments; and nonprofit organizations.

More information about the selected teams and the Solar in Your Community Challenge is at www.solarinyourcommunity.org. 

About the SunShot Initiative

The U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative is a national effort to drive down the cost of solar electricity and support solar adoption. SunShot aims to make solar energy a low cost electricity source for all Americans through research and development efforts in collaboration with public and private partners. Learn more at energy.gov/sunshot.

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