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Community Solar Development Projects are Coming to Pennsylvania

By admin,

Solar is proving to be one of America’s fastest growing low-cost energy sources. On Thursday February 21, 2019, Pennsylvania lawmakers introduced bipartisan community solar legislation. Currently, there is only a small percentage of people in the state who acquire solar energy, and this legislation will expand access to affordable, clean energy for residents.

What is Community Solar?

Community solar is a solar plant where electricity is shared by more multiple community subscribers. This allows homeowners, renters and businesses in the community to share the benefits of solar panels even if they don’t want to install them on their own home or business. With community solar, you can purchase or lease a share in a community solar project, and every month you will receive a credit on your electricity bill by the energy that has been produced by your share.

Community Solar is Helping Pennsylvanians

Once this legislation is put into motion, it will make it easier for Pennsylvanian’s to go solar and it opens access to clean energy to all residents. This legislation will not only help the environment, but these solar projects will create new jobs for Pennsylvanians in the state’s new energy economy. Vote Solar studied and analyzed the economic benefits that this legislation would bring to Pennsylvania. They estimate this would increase solar jobs by 26%, including 1,053 full-time jobs in the first five years. It will also create $706 million in local economic benefits.

“Between the plummeting costs of solar over the last decade and pent up customer demand for access to clean energy, now is the perfect time to enact community solar legislation in Pennsylvania” said Jeff Cramer, executive director for the Coalition for Community Solar Access. “If passed, HB531 would provide families and businesses the opportunity to access all of the financial and environmental benefits solar provides rural and urban communities alike.”

The Solar Movement in the U.S.

There has been a growing demand for community solar across the United States. Pennsylvania is one of the many states across the country that are introducing legislation designed to enable the development of community solar projects. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia allow community solar programs and encourage growth through policy and programs, which have created thousands of jobs.

 

Community solar is a great way for the community to save money on energy while also helping the environment. Intersect Energy provides analysis, financing, and structuring of alternative energy solutions for your site with a goal of reducing the sites environmental impact while maximizing savings for the site owner. Contact us today so we can help you get started with your solar power investment and make sure you keep up with the latest news in the world of renewable energy by following us on LinkedIn!

More and More Corporations are Turning Towards Renewable Energy

By admin,

Corporations have been adamant that they want renewable energy. Last year, corporations and government agencies broke records by signing contracts to buy 13.4 gigawatts of power, with 1 gigawatt being equivalent to 1 billion watts. To put this in perspective, this is similar to Nevada’s total generating capacity. Despite the wave of federal policies that had the potential to lower the demand for clean power, the U.S. made up 63 percent of global corporate renewable deals last year. The growth over the past year shows tremendous progress for renewable energy. Let’s take a deeper look at what is behind the boom.

Tech Giants are Going Green

Tech giants like Apple, AT&T, Google and Facebook are standing out as leaders in the field. They are paving the way for other corporations to ultimately pledge to achieve 100 percent of their power from renewables. When you hear a company like Google say, “We’re 100% renewable energy,” it usually means that they are buying as much clean, renewable energy as it is consuming unclean.

Facebook Inc. alone made deals on more than 2.6 gigawatts of clean energy just last year. This is three times that of the next highest corporate energy buyer, AT&T. Google announced early last year that they currently held contracts to purchase 3 gigawatts from renewable energy projects.

The Global Effort Towards Going Green

Communities, companies and nations have set clean-power targets in a global effort to stop climate change, which puts the need for renewable energy at an all-time high. Today the green boom is being driven by renewable energy. In most markets, wind and solar power is the cheapest source of electricity and renewable energy is increasingly competitive with fossil fuels. In fact, Exxon Mobil Corp. signed a clean-power deal last year for the Permian Basin, which is one of the fastest growing U.S. oil fields.

“It’s no longer a safe bet to assume that utilities are the biggest source of clean-energy demand,” Kyle Harrison, a New York-based analyst at BloombergNEF, said in an interview. “The sheer scale of renewable-energy purchases is unprecedented and only poised to grow.”

Make the Change

The world is turning towards renewable energy and corporations have made major progress in renewable energy growth. Now that big corporations are paving the way, it has and will continue to become more affordable for other corporations and small businesses.

If you are interested in joining the movement towards renewable energy, contact the team at Intersect Energy today! We provide analysis, financing, and structuring of alternative energy solutions for your site with a goal of reducing the site’s environmental impact while maximizing savings for you as the site owner. Contact us today to get started on your next renewable energy project. Make sure you keep up with the latest news in the world of renewable energy by following us on LinkedIn!