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Date: 5/10/2022
EASTHAMPTON – In an effort to bring low-income community members solar power at a discounted price, Co-op Power and River Valley Co-op have teamed up to create a program to do just that.
From solar energy generated by the panels installed above River Valley Co-op’s Easthampton store parking lot, participants who qualify can receive a share of the solar at a discounted rate.
The participants in the program will have the majority of their electricity generate as solar power from Co-op Power and will see a 15 percent discount on the solar received through this program on their monthly Eversource bill.
River Valley Co-op General Manager Rochelle Prunty said her team has prioritized the environmental and community benefits of this type of solar project constructed on their rooftop and over their parking lot.
“With the importance of addressing climate change and the impact of the pandemic on our economy, making these our solar project priorities only made sense,” Prunty said.
Prunty added that the reason there aren’t as many installations like the ones at River Valley Co-op is because most corporations won’t invest in solar unless they identify a large financial return in the short term. She also noted that large corporate solar installations often displace forests and important habitats or farmland while making a lot of money for energy companies.
“Working with Co-op Power as a partner we were able to secure funding with support from EOS, our solar battery provider, to complete this project in our community to benefit 100 low-income community members and meet our net zero grocery store operation goals,” Prunty said.
Only 100 subscriptions are available at this time and interested parties are encouraged to get more information and apply for the program. To be eligible for this program residents must live in Western Massachusetts but also must qualify in one of three ways.
An applicant must qualify for MassHealth, SNAP, LIHEAP or other social programs, must live in an Environmental Justice neighborhood that qualifies for this program, or must have the low-income (R2) electric rate on their Eversource bill.
“While we expect to save 5 percent on our electric bills, our low-income community members will be able to participate with 15 percent savings on solar power and together we are making a difference to fight climate change,” Prunty said.
Prunty mentioned this is the continued effort of River Valley Co-op to be a leader in green energy. In 2008, a solar installation of 34 kilowatts was put above their Northampton location. The new installation at the Easthampton location sits at 178 kilowatts. Prunty worked with Co-op Power and engineers from Solar Design Associates to create this new installation to be a solid foundation as a source of solar energy.
“To be able to, over the course of a year, create all of the energy we use in a year, it was just too exciting to not do,” Prunty said.
Prunty added she hopes this program is here to stay in helping low-income residents with their energy bills and that it would most likely be the same number of subscriptions each year unless more solar arrays were developed.
Overall, to bring in this opportunity in green energy for low-income residents has been a great achievement for Prunty and Co-op Power.
“You don’t want people to get stuck between do they have electricity for the month or do they have groceries,” Prunty said. “They [Co-op Power] specialize in community ownership of green energy and that’s really important in this too, especially for our low-income communities. The democratized energy production and green energy production for our future, that is our vision for helping to build a better world. I’m thrilled we were able to do this with our store.”