Solstice Contact:
Forrest Watkins
(541) 600-0406
forrest@solstice.us
www.solstice.us
Community Energy Contact:
Jay Carlis
610-230-0378
jay.carlis@communityenergyinc.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 13, 2018
180 Households Now Receiving Bill Savings from Barre, MA Community Solar Garden
Barre, MA – Today, Solstice announced that only 20 spots remain in a set of Barre, MA solar gardens, giving Worcester County households the chance to support local, clean energy and save on their electricity costs. The projects, which together total 2 megawatts (MW) of production capacity, were built by Community Energy, Inc., a renewable energy developer that has built nearly 700 MW of solar capacity in its nearly two decades of experience.
Community solar is a model for residential solar that allows households to enroll in a local shared solar array and see savings on their electricity costs. Because community solar requires no changes to a participant’s property, the projects are open to households regardless of homeownership status or residents’ ability to find financing for their array. According to industry analyst GTM Research, community solar was the fastest-growing sector of the solar industry in 2017, and is now available in states across the nation.
The Barre community solar projects are already active and distributing energy bill credits to project participants in Worcester County, bringing them a fixed 10 percent discount on the energy that their allocation generates. Residents of select central and western Massachusetts counties are also eligible.
The three co-located projects occupy a 14-acre parcel of retired farmland and will serve approximately two hundred area households. A portion of the projects are being allocated to a local corporation with headquarters in Western Massachusetts, contributing to their corporate sustainability goals.
On top of benefits to its subscribers, the projects have brought new construction jobs to the area, as well as work for local residents attending to ongoing operations and maintenance needs. The projects will also protect the land where they are located and provide significant tax revenues to the Town of Barre over a 20-year period.
“This is a great opportunity for people to save on their energy costs, even as they support clean energy right here in central Massachusetts,” said Solstice Co-Founder & CEO, Steph Speirs. “We’re excited to be working with Community Energy to maximize these projects’ positive impact in our community.”
“We are excited to add the Barre Solar project to our growing base of operating community solar projects,” said Jay Carlis, Executive Vice President of Community Energy Solar. “A couple hundred Massachusetts residents have already reduced their energy costs by subscribing to the Barre Solar Project. We are looking forward to working with Solstice to offer the last few available spaces in the project.”
About Solstice
Solstice is dedicated to bringing affordable solar power to the 80% of Americans who cannot install a rooftop system. Solstice offers customer-facing solutions for the community solar industry, enrolling households and community organizations, creating financing innovations that expand access to underserved Americans, and providing a frictionless subscriber management platform for community solar projects. To learn more, please visit solstice.us.
About Community Energy Solar
Community Energy Solar has been a leader in renewable energy supply and development since 1999. Along with over 700MW of wind power, it has developed over 700MW of solar power, including five of the largest projects east of the Rockies. Community Energy’s operating community solar projects include two solar gardens in Massachusetts, four projects in Colorado, and four projects in Minnesota. By the end of 2018, Community Energy expects to have developed more than 30 MW of community solar gardens. Community Energy’s solar expertise and strong local relationships mean that the company is in the forefront of new solar development, working to create win-win solutions with commercial and residential customers to build new, local clean energy. To learn more, please visit communityenergyinc.com