By rootid
Solar Works DC is a low-income solar installation and job training program spearheaded by the Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) and the Department of Employment Services (DOES). GRID Alternatives Mid-Atlantic is responsible for implementing the program, preparing participating District residents to enter careers in solar and related industries while reducing energy costs for qualified … Continued
By rootid
Program Overview: The District of Columbia’s Solar for All Program is a great example of a comprehensive low-income solar program because it encompasses single-family projects, multifamily affordable housing projects, community solar projects and workforce development. The program was established by the Renewable Portfolio Standard Expansion Amendment Act of 2016, which expands DC’s solar capacity, increases … Continued
By rootid
Historically, the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) has operated the state’s Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), which has been effective in reducing energy burden primarily through reduced home heating costs. However, heating costs in Colorado only make up about 50% of total household energy costs, while the other 50% comes from electricity costs. As such, the Colorado Energy … Continued
By rootid
Program Overview Massachusetts is a restructured state that has been supporting the deployment of low-income solar since 2005. One of the state’s most successful programs was created by the Massachusetts Green Communities Act of 2008 and later improved upon by the Department of Energy Resources. This law created a carve-out in the Renewable Portfolio Standard … Continued
By rootid
The City of Richmond has made a long-term commitment to bringing solar power and job training opportunities to its residents by using local funding to leverage state incentives. Program Overview The Richmond Recovery Rebate (R3) Program was created with American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) funding to provide home energy efficiency upgrades, solar installations and … Continued
By rootid
California, whose energy sector is partially deregulated, is an exceptional example of a state with equitable access solar policies. California recognized early on that all its ratepayers and taxpayers, including low-income families, were contributing to the public dollars used to advance the state’s solar economy, and created targeted programming specifically designed to ensure low-income families … Continued
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California’s first low-income solar incentive programs, SASH and MASH, did not include formal workforce development components. However, as nonprofit GRID Alternatives built out the SASH program, workforce development became increasingly integrated, and it was adopted as a formal program requirement when the two programs were extended in 2015. Workforce development was again included when the … Continued
By rootid
New York, a state with a restructured electric market, is advancing low-income solar access via the Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) initiative, Energy Affordability Policy (6% energy burden for low-income residents), and its Green New Deal initiative (goal for 100% of the state’s power to be carbon-neutral by 2040, increasing the Clean Energy Standard to … Continued
By rootid
Colorado is an example of a vertically integrated market. In 2010, Colorado became the first in the nation to pass statewide shared renewables legislation, the Community Solar Gardens Act. Five years later, Colorado expanded the program further with HB 15-1284. The Community Solar Gardens Act included direction on a number of design elements that make … Continued
By rootid
MASH In California, the Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing (MASH) Program launched in 2009 along with its sister program, the Single-Family Affordable Solar Homes (SASH) Program. MASH/SASH were financed using 10 percent of the overall $2.2 billion budget from the ratepayer-funded California Solar Initiative. The MASH program provides fixed, up-front, capacity-based incentives for qualifying solar energy … Continued
