A Boston grocery store is bringing community solar to a low-income area
This story was first published by Energy News Network. A group of energy-equity advocates in Boston is launching a community solar cooperative they say could be a scalable model for both reducing carbon emissions and building wealth in disadvantaged communities. The Boston Community Solar Cooperative is in the predevelopment stage of an 81-kilowatt solar project on the roof of the Dorchester Food Co-Op, which is located in one of the city’s lowest-income neighborhoods. Residents will be able to buy or earn ownership stakes in the project, which will be governed by a board of community stakeholders. The food store will buy the power at a discounted rate, and the revenue created will be shared among this group of owners. When the Dorchester project is up and running, the coalition plans to replicate the model in other neighborhoods around Boston, as well as share details and lessons more widely so other communities can create their own co-ops. “The idea is that the majority of the ownership for the Dorchester project will be owned by Dorchester community members,” said Gregory King, a co-founder of the cooperative and interim president of the board. “It’s about a community empowerment movement.” The promise of community solar Community solar, in which subscribers or co-owners pay for a share of the power generated by a system, has been around for close to 20 years. Though it took about a decade to catch on, adoption began to pick up in the mid-2010s, and today, some 7 gigawatts of community solar capacity have been installed nationwide, up from just 1 gigawatt in 2018. Massachusetts is home to 882 megawatts. From the beginning, advocates saw the potential in community solar to help bring the benefits of renewable energy to lower-income and other historically disadvantaged communities. The approach allows anyone to buy clean energy, usually at a lower price than utility supply, without needing a sunny rooftop of their own or thousands to invest upfront. “If you’re a renter, actually having your own solar array is almost impossible,” said Kendra Beaver, climate justice coordinator at the Fairmount Indigo CDC Collaborative in Boston and a co-founder of the cooperative. “For folks who do own their homes, there’s still a huge financial investment you have to make to put solar panels on your home.” So far, though, the promise of using community solar to help narrow the wealth gap has not been realized: In 2022, just 2% of community solar customers were low-income, according to a report produced by Wood Mackenzie in collaboration with the Coalition for Community Solar Access. The trend is moving in the right direction, however. By the second half of 2023, low-income households made up 10% of community solar customers. And provisions of the 2022 federal Inflation Reduction Act are likely to expand opportunities for low-income consumers even further. “Community solar is a really great tool for energy equity and environmental justice. But our very first wave of community-solar programs and projects served a more general market, with a larger portion of middle-income to upper-income customers,” said Kate Daniel, Northeast regional director for the coalition. “The trend is growing really quickly toward the direction of serving low-income customers.” Maximizing the impact The Boston Community Solar Cooperative grew out of a desire to maximize the economic and social impact community solar could have in disadvantaged neighborhoods. To achieve this goal, organizers designed a strategy with several key differences from standard community-solar models. “We’re laying out a framework for what I refer to as ‘community solar 2.0,’ that really provides ownership to members,” King said.
This story was first published by Energy News Network . A group of energy-equity advocates in Boston is launching a community solar cooperative they say could be a scalable model for both reducing carbon emissions and building wealth in disadvantaged communities. The Boston Community Solar Cooperative is in the…
This story was first published by Energy News Network.
A group of energy-equity advocates in Boston is launching a community solar cooperative they say could be a scalable model for both reducing carbon emissions and building wealth in disadvantaged communities.
The Boston Community Solar Cooperative is in the predevelopment stage of an 81-kilowatt solar project on the roof of the Dorchester Food Co-Op, which is located in one of the city’s lowest-income neighborhoods. Residents will be able to buy or earn ownership stakes in the project, which will be governed by a board of community stakeholders. The food store will buy the power at a discounted rate, and the revenue created will be shared among this group of owners.
When the Dorchester project is up and running, the coalition plans to replicate the model in other neighborhoods around Boston, as well as share details and lessons more widely so other communities can create their own co-ops.
“The idea is that the majority of the ownership for the Dorchester project will be owned by Dorchester community members,” said Gregory King, a co-founder of the cooperative and interim president of the board. “It’s about a community empowerment movement.”
The promise of community solar
Community solar, in which subscribers or co-owners pay for a share of the power generated by a system, has been around for close to 20 years. Though it took about a decade to catch on, adoption began to pick up in the mid-2010s, and today, some 7 gigawatts of community solar capacity have been installed nationwide, up from just 1 gigawatt in 2018. Massachusetts is home to 882 megawatts.
From the beginning, advocates saw the potential in community solar to help bring the benefits of renewable energy to lower-income and other historically disadvantaged communities. The approach allows anyone to buy clean energy, usually at a lower price than utility supply, without needing a sunny rooftop of their own or thousands to invest upfront.
“If you’re a renter, actually having your own solar array is almost impossible,” said Kendra Beaver, climate justice coordinator at the Fairmount Indigo CDC Collaborative in Boston and a co-founder of the cooperative. “For folks who do own their homes, there’s still a huge financial investment you have to make to put solar panels on your home.”
So far, though, the promise of using community solar to help narrow the wealth gap has not been realized: In 2022, just 2% of community solar customers were low-income, according to a report produced by Wood Mackenzie in collaboration with the Coalition for Community Solar Access. The trend is moving in the right direction, however. By the second half of 2023, low-income households made up 10% of community solar customers. And provisions of the 2022 federal Inflation Reduction Act are likely to expand opportunities for low-income consumers even further.
“Community solar is a really great tool for energy equity and environmental justice. But our very first wave of community-solar programs and projects served a more general market, with a larger portion of middle-income to upper-income customers,” said Kate Daniel, Northeast regional director for the coalition. “The trend is growing really quickly toward the direction of serving low-income customers.”
Maximizing the impact
The Boston Community Solar Cooperative grew out of a desire to maximize the economic and social impact community solar could have in disadvantaged neighborhoods. To achieve this goal, organizers designed a strategy with several key differences from standard community-solar models.
“We’re laying out a framework for what I refer to as ‘community solar 2.0,’ that really provides ownership to members,” King said.