Community Solar

Black Hills Energy has announced the partners it has selected to supply an additional 2.5 megawatts of new community solar garden capacity in Southern Colorado.

The new projects include a 2 megawatt facility and a separate 500-kilowatt garden dedicated entirely to serving low-income customers, according to Black Hills.

On Feb. 14, a lawsuit was filed against the city challenging the language of the ballot question that council approved Feb. 10, saying it does not conform to state law.

The city has responded to the suit, saying that in order to keep the May 5 election date on track it is willing to use certain ballot language proposed by the plaintiffs — although the city doesn’t agree with the plaintiffs that the original ballot language isn’t in compliance with state law. The City Council would have to approve the amendments that are made.

In a new interview for The Weather Channel, co-founder and CEO Erica Mackie talks about the benefits of community solar.

“Clean energy should be for everyone, and with a few strategic shifts, it can be,” said report co-author MeLena Hessel, a senior policy advocate with the Environmental Law & Policy Center. “Too often, low-income communities receive the brunt of pollution and the effects of climate change, but are left out of the solutions. This report lays out realistic, common-sense guidelines for utilities to share those solutions — and the clean energy future — with all.”

Boulder’s Family Learning Center, which is working to mentor and tutor 40 low-income parents in early childhood development, child educational advocacy and early childhood professional development, and Bridge House, the local homelessness services provider behind the Ready to Work program that strives to end homelessness through employment, are competing against three Denver groups for the extra funding.

GRID Alternatives is dedicated to advancing solar in the Navajo Nation and throughout Indian Country through its National Tribal Program, established in 2010. The goal of the program is to inform tribes on the possibility of solar and then assist with implementation, from educating on net metering and how to work with utilities to construction safety and installation practices. GRID recruits community members to volunteer to build grid-tied solar projects on homes and community buildings on tribal lands.