Building with Benefits: Low-to-Moderate-Income Access

Ariel Drehobl from the Department of Energy introduces the second webinar in a six-part series, focusing on meaningful benefits of community solar. She highlights the National Community Solar Partnership's mission to support equitable access to affordable community solar, noting that currently, only 1% of community solar capacity serves low-income households. The webinar will delve into strategies for ensuring community solar programs are accessible and beneficial to income-qualified households, featuring speakers recognized by the 2022 Sunny Awards for Equitable Community Solar.

Yesenia Rivera, Executive Director of Energy Allies, emphasizes the critical need for LMI access to clean energy. She points out that 44% of US households are low-income, with an energy burden three times the national average. For these families, especially renters, community solar often represents the only path to clean, renewable energy. Although community solar was designed for equitable access, less than 1% of its capacity serves LMI subscribers, underscoring the gap between its potential and current impact. The Justice40 Initiative aims to address this by directing 40% of federal investment to disadvantaged communities.

Eric LaMora, Executive Director of Community Solar for Nautilus Solar Energy, discusses their long-standing commitment to community solar, including early adoption of LMI projects. He highlights the White Marsh Project in Maryland, which dedicates over 50% of its energy to LMI households at a 25% discount, serving 135 homes. Nautilus does not income or credit qualify customers, and their demographics show over 50% of their 28,000 subscribers fall into the LMI category, demonstrating the importance and benefit of accessible programs. He mentions learning about barriers to LMI access early in the Maryland program.

Thomas Bartholomew from the DC Department of Energy and Environment presents their Solar for All Program, which aims to provide clean solar energy benefits to District residents at or below 80% of the area median income. The program seeks to reduce energy burden to 3% for LMI residents, noting that investments in solar yield more long-term benefits compared to traditional aid programs like LIHEAP. Solar for All also supports economic development through its Solar Works program, training residents for careers in the solar industry and expanding into electrification careers.

Tess McKenna, Program Manager of Joe-4-Sun at Citizens Energy Corporation, details their community solar program which provides deep discounts on clean energy credits. In Massachusetts, all 2,000+ customers are low-income, receiving a 50% discount on credits. The program has saved LMI households approximately $2 million. Eligibility is determined by existing low-income utility rates, allowing their benefits to stack with other discounts. She explains their two-bill system, the importance of transparency, and their efforts to make the application and payment processes as accessible as possible, including not performing credit checks or sending debts to collections.

Pouya Najamaie, Policy and Regulatory Director for Cooperative Energy Futures (CEF), outlines CEF's mission to empower Minnesota communities with clean, local, and owned energy solutions. As a member-owned solar cooperative, CEF's subscribers own the electricity produced by their eight current community solar gardens (7 MW capacity), with 51% of current subscribers being low-income. Members experience immediate savings (10-18% in year one, up to 50% by year 25), dividend payments, and democratic control. He highlights the foundational role of Community Solar Garden (CSG) policy, citing recent legislative changes in Minnesota (HF2310) that address equity and access, including no credit checks and improved rate structures for LMI subscribers.

Daniel Dumovich, Director of Strategic Initiatives with GRID Alternatives, presents California's first fully dedicated low-income community solar project with the Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians and the Anza Electric Rural Cooperative. Funded by the California Climate Investments Fund, this pilot project serves 200 income-qualified customers. Tribal households receive nearly full-bill discounts, while other cooperative members get 25% savings. The project also provides workforce development for tribal members and aims for future battery storage to enhance resilience. Dumovich emphasizes the flexibility of working with small cooperatives and meeting customers where they are, including alternative payment methods.

Panelists discuss major barriers for LMI households accessing community solar. Eric LaMora highlights early challenges in Maryland with income verification, which was later improved by accepting existing program enrollment, census tract data, and self-attestation. Nautilus also removed credit checks and income verification, observing better payment propensity among LMI customers who value the discount more. Tess McKenna identifies the 'two-bill system' and lack of consolidated billing as a significant hurdle, causing confusion and requiring extensive customer service. She advocates for an 'opt-out' system, like that in the Imperial Irrigation District, to reduce customer burden and increase participation.

The discussion shifts to scaling LMI access. Thomas Bartholomew suggests government plays a role in streamlining income verification, potentially through information sharing between agencies, or by automatically qualifying individuals already in benefit programs. Eric LaMora stresses access to capital and challenging the reliance on FICO scores, arguing that community solar's subscription model carries less risk and LMI customers are reliable payers. Pouya Najamaie emphasizes the importance of policy changes, specifically rate structures that adequately compensate for electricity fed into the grid, making LMI projects more financially viable. He also highlights the benefit of moving program administration out of utility control, as seen in Minnesota's recent legislation, to avoid slow-rolling and conflicts of interest.

Panelists address the role of utilities. Tess McKenna argues that utilities often lack the incentive to innovate for LMI customers, leading to slow implementation and customer confusion. She calls for policies that prioritize low-income community customers. Pouya Najamaie states that the utility business model is often an 'anathema' to community solar, and they should primarily 'stay out of the way' and honestly address interconnection. Yesenia Rivera contrasts utility-scale solar, which may not directly benefit communities, with community-led projects that focus on energy justice, wealth generation, and robust workforce development, as exemplified by a project she supports in Boston. She emphasizes that community-led projects seek generational wealth, not just bill reduction.