In a ribbon-cutting ceremony held in East Baltimore on January 13, the Climate Access Fund (CAF) and its partners flipped the switch on a $2.4 million, 808-kW rooftop community solar project that will reduce electricity costs for low-income households in Baltimore.
Located on the rooftop of Elmer A. Henderson: A Johns Hopkins Partnership School (Henderson-Hopkins), a Baltimore City Public K-8 School, the Solar4Us @ Henderson-Hopkins project will save approximately 150 low-to-moderate income households nearly $1 million over 35 years ($200 per year per household).
CAF is a statewide nonprofit green bank that reduces household energy burdens in historically disinvested communities through innovative community solar development and finance. Energy burden is the percent of a household’s income that is spent on energy bills; the energy burden of Maryland’s low-income households can be as high as 21-times that of wealthier households. Rooftop solar power can help reduce a household’s energy burden, but many renters and lower income homeowners cannot put solar on their own roofs.
Maryland’s community solar program allows all households to access electricity bill discounts through solar energy. The energy generated by community solar projects like Solar4Us @ Henderson-Hopkins is sent directly into the electrical grid and households that subscribe to these projects pay less on their electricity bills with no impact on their electrical service. Through partnerships with certified B-Corp Neighborhood Sun and Baltimore-based consulting firm Urban Clean Energy Advisors LLC, Solar4Us @ Henderson-Hopkins focused its subscriber outreach to ensure that 100% of the power generated will benefit low-to-moderate income households.
In addition to energy burden reduction, CAF’s projects create job opportunities, build wealth in host communities through shared project ownership and provide educational opportunities. The project installer Universal Renewables employed 12 Maryland residents for full time installer positions and offered two on-the-job experiences in partnership with CivicWorks, a Baltimore-based nonprofit that strengthens communities and promotes equity through education, skills development, job training and community service.
CAF plans to replicate the Solar4Us @ Henderson-Hopkins project model across the State of Maryland with financing from the federal Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, established as part of the IRA. Maryland’s Senator Chris Van Hollen was a key author of the IRA and a longstanding leader in the effort to establish a National Green Bank in order to finance projects like Solar4Us @ Henderson-Hopkins. Senator Chris Van Hollen spoke at the ribbon cutting event.
“We fought to pass the Inflation Reduction Act to support community projects like this one at Henderson-Hopkins that will expand clean energy options while lowering Marylanders’ energy bills. This effort is an example of how a sustainable, clean energy future can support our communities, and it serves as a model for future transformative projects that can be powered by the national green bank that was incorporated into the Inflation Reduction Act, ” said Senator Van Hollen.
The Climate Access Fund is actively seeking partners across the state, in both urban and rural communities, who are interested in hosting Solar4Us projects and can help identify rooftops, parking lots and reclaimed land for community solar development.
News item from the Climate Access Fund
