Here’s how the program works:
When you sign up, Eversource translates the energy that’s produced by the solar panels on River Valley Co-op in Easthampton into dollar credits and applies them to your Eversource account. You pay Co-op Power a subscription fee of 85% of the of the credits applied to your bill, and the 15% you keep provides a discount to your electric bill.
When you participate in this program, you…
Save money through the credits you receive on your electric bill
Become an Owner-Member of Co-op Power, working to build energy justice and energy democracy in our communities
Support this solar array, helping Co-op Power fund the newly installed solar and battery equipment, the work from PVSquared in building the system, and the labor to design, develop and finance the system
Assist in shifting our communities in W Mass off of fossil fuels and on to clean energy
Call Lynn at 413-552-6446 for more information.
Step One: Qualify
You qualify for this Energy Justice program when:
You are on the low-income (R2 or R4) Electric Rate on your Eversource bill. If you qualify for MassHealth, SNAP, LIHEAP, or another similar social program, you can likely qualify for the Eversource low-income rate.
You have an email you use regularly and you’re willing to sign up for a Common Good account to process your payments.
You are an owner-member of Co-op Power or you are willing to sign up for a lifetime membership and pay $25 per year for 10 years out of your solar savings.
You are ok that sometimes, especially over the summer if you don’t use much electricity or when you get a fuel assistance payment to your electric bill, your bill from Co-op Power for your solar credits could be more than your Eversource electric bill but you’ll use the credits you buy for an upcoming bill.
There is no cost to change or terminate your subscription.
Step Two: Signup
Signup with Co-op Power to let us know you’re interested.
Send Lynn and Cagney (solar@cooppower.coop) a picture of each page of a recent Eversource electric bill.
Signup for a Common Good account to pay for your solar credits at www.commongood.earth.
Sign the agreement online when we send to you through Docusign.
Step Three: Start Saving Money on your Electricity Bill
Once you signup and the array gets turned on, you’ll pay $85 for every $100 in credits from the River Valley Co-op Easthampton Solar Array. As you use those credits to pay your electric bill, you save 15% on your electric bill.
The River Valley Co-op Easthampton solar system will be turned on in early October 2023. Co-op Power is signing up 100 households by the end of September. Eversource will start putting credits on your bill soon after that.
Why Community Ownership of Energy is Important!
Rochelle Prunty, General Manager for River Valley Co-op, says “Co-op Power is a cooperative dedicated to democratizing green energy ownership. All the solar incentives are slanted toward making money for the big utilities and solar companies to make a lot of money. Co-op Power has invested in a legal framework to help harness those incentives to make community and local ownership of green power possible without the huge upfront investments. River Valley Co-op is a member of Co-op Power, they formed an LLC on our behalf to finance our solar installation in Easthampton. We purchase half of the solar power produced onsite from Co-op Power's LLC for our store and provide half of the production to 100 low-income community members. River Valley Co-op had long heard it was not possible for a grocery store to generate enough solar power onsite to offset all their usage because of the amount of electricity required for refrigeration, especially in the Northeast. Co-op Power helped River Valley Co-op stretch the engineers' creativity to design something that made it possible, and then they developed the financing plan that made it feasible.”
For more information: See page 12-13 of River Valley Co-op’s annual report
Co-op Power
1 Ashfield Street, Floor 3, Office #4
Shelburne Falls MA 01370
(877) 266-7543
officemanager@cooppower.coop