February is the month for love. There’s the love we demonstrate with flowers and chocolates and Valentine’s Day dinners. And there’s the love that involves deep connections, caring, and giving to others.
It’s that second love that gets us out of bed every morning, excited for the day. We care about our communities, value the connection we make with our neighbors, and take pride in bringing the benefits of solar energy to residents and businesses. Community solar is a way to express that love through collective action that benefits us all.
Loving our communities
Over the years, we’ve been inspired by the love people have for their state and their local community. Whether it’s small towns or cities, coastlines or forests, farms or factories, people take pride in where they’re from and want to see their neighbors thrive. They take pride in their history and share hope for their future. That’s where community solar comes in. When a group of people comes together to support a local solar farm, they save money on the cost of electricity, but the impacts are much larger than that. Urban neighborhoods have access to renewable energy even if they don’t own their roof. Local farmers can thrive with the power of agrivoltaics. And everyone can benefit from more locally-produced renewable energy.
Loving community solar
The cost savings and economic benefits of state community solar programs are important and attractive to almost all electricity customers. But our love for these programs is mainly about the power of collective action. When people work together and take control of their future, great things happen. The most powerful changes start from the ground up, and community solar has seen a huge groundswell of understanding, interest, and adoption in recent years. When communities come together to support these programs, they are working toward energy independence, ensuring that more electricity will be produced locally. They are also ensuring a larger portion of the energy they use is produced sustainably, limiting the negative impacts of fossil fuels.
Love is a powerful idea, maybe the most powerful. This February, let’s remember what we love about our communities and our neighbors. And take some small action that spreads that love to others.
