Community Solar

“Bringing the next generation of energy technology to all Americans requires not just dollars but innovation and creativity,” said Marc Ott, executive director of ICMA, the Challenge’s prize administrator. “The Solar in Your Community Challenge meets this need through the power of local ideas and is yet another successful example of what’s possible through local and Federal cooperation.”

“This project is born of fire. The 2016 Cayuse Mountain Fire stimulated us to look at going solar because of the impact it had on the reservation,” said Tim Horan, executive director of the Spokane Tribal Housing Authority. “The Children of the Sun Solar Initiative puts us on a path to energy independence, climate resiliency and tribal power sovereignty — eventually we could be self-sufficient.”

The fierce blaze consumed 14 homes and displaced nearly 50 people on the Spokane Indian Reservation. It burned more than 18,000 acres, destroyed 14 tribal homes, and cut power to main administrative buildings and water supply. But the community is trying to get back to normal life with a project that “is born of fire” — a solar initiative that is designed to foster resilience, autonomy, and sustainability.

“Alternative energy is now becoming a significant discussion in all our communities across the nation and most importantly on Navajo,” said Ray Griego, Energy Systems instructor at NTU. “We have been moving steadily from fossil fuel here on the Navajo Nation, and this shift presents the challenge for our younger generation to explain how to successfully accomplish the transition.”

This piece highlights an upcoming community solar installation that will bring renewable power to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in southwestern Colorado. GRID Alternatives has helped build low-income community solar projects since 2015, with the help of community members and volunteers.

This year’s election is for the representative of District 1, which consists of most of the east side of Highway 40 in Fraser and some parts of Tabernash and Winter Park, including the Winter Park Ranch, Rendezvous and Hi Country Haus neighborhoods.

The resulting solar array in Towaoc (pronounced toy-yak) will bring power to the 2,100 people living nearby. It will give the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe — one of three Ute Indian tribes in the southwestern United States — enough renewable energy to begin the first phase of a dream they’ve been developing for 10 years.

The $3.5 million project is the result of a partnership between the Housing Authority of Pueblo and Black Hills Energy. Sixty percent of the electricity generated by the solar panels would be dedicated to between 100 and 150 low-income households, said Ted Ortiviz, director of the housing authority.

Those households are expected to save between $200 and $300 a year on their electric bills.

Steven Donerson and Vernon Davis, who completed GRID Mid-Atlantic’s Solar Works DC training program, both began working as multifamily solar installers with the nonprofit on Jan. 14.