The importance of people-powered energy
With several states embracing community energy, it’s time to give these state and local solutions the attention they deserve
When we imagine implementing renewable energy policy, it’s easy to think big. We often picture a sea of glinting solar panels stretching toward the horizon or fields dotted with hundreds of wind turbines. No doubt, large-scale change is necessary to displace fossil fuels’ chokehold on energy production. To that end, the bipartisan infrastructure plan currently being considered in Congress calls for $550 billion in capital investments, with $73 billion funneled to the utility grid. But as we wait for that type of comprehensive investment to pass the Senate, we must also remember that there are smaller, local ways to make a difference on the road to 100 percent renewable power.
Enter community energy, an under-utilized tool for the green energy revolution.
Its general setup is simple. Communities generate, manage, own and distribute energy with the involvement of local residents, utility companies, businesses and energy contractors. Individual property owners retain choice and flexibility without the pressure of installing and maintaining renewable tech. Instead, community energy subscribers own or lease a share of the energy produced by a common solar garden (or the less common community wind scheme). As locally produced renewable energy surges back into the grid, subscribers receive credits to their utility bills and, often, additional bill savings when solar panels outperform consumer energy usage.
In recent months, community energy has strengthened many states’ renewables efforts. Consider developments in Minnesota and New Mexico. The Institute for Local Self Reliance recently declared Minnesota as having the nation’s best community energy program. The state currently boasts more than 400 megawatts worth of projects in varying stages of completeness — enough to power at least 80,000 homes, or roughly 4.5 percent of Minnesota’s occupied homes according to census data.
New Mexico’s fledgling plan may not rival Minnesota’s numbers yet, but state leaders and local community groups have drummed up significant consumer interest. In April, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed Senate Bill 84 into law, opening community solar options for all residents with a specific emphasis on low-income New Mexicans. Even though the program will not begin considering projects until 2022, the state has already received dozens of applications for solar gardens. In a state such as New Mexico, where oil companies wield tremendous political influence, community solar provides an alternative path to clean energy — one that clearly appeals to New Mexicans. After all, why else would anyone spend their free time completing paperwork for a program that may not be ready for another year?
Simply put, community energy allows Americans to act locally while knowing that their action has more than symbolic meaning. This is not a metal-straw-in-a-plastic-cup solution, but a vital step in our clean energy transition to wrest power out of dirty utilities’ hands. The community solar market is expected to add as much as 3.5 gigawatts of clean energy in the next five years. That’s enough solar energy to power approximately 700,000 additional American homes. If we want to reduce our national carbon emissions, trailblazing states like Minnesota and New Mexico should become the norm.
Currently, only 21 states have some degree of community energy legislation on the books, meaning less than half the country is primed to tackle climate change with this smart local option. Although some individual options like personal rooftop solar panels and vertical access wind turbines are feasible, many states and utility companies have begun threatening to drastically cut solar compensation to serve fossil fuel interests. Even with the cost of solar panels decreasing, cuts to solar compensation put rooftop solar panels out of reach for more Americans. Strong community energy legislation must be an option to ensure everyone in any state can participate in and reap the benefits of a transition to 100 percent clean energy.
Community energy is a change we can — and should — all buy into.
