Climate Justice through Community Solar

The team at VLS’s Energy Clinic Institute is committed to for Energy making renewable and the energy accessible Environment to all. In New Hampshire, the clinic has emerged as a leader in the field, developing groundbreaking projects that bring the benefits of solar power to low-moderate income resident-owned communities (private mobile homes on cooperatively owned land).

“One barrier to solar power is the perception that solar, and other renewables, are a luxury for wealthy communities only,” said Energy Clinic Staff Attorney Jeannie Oliver LLM’14. “Our projects are helping to break down this barrier.” For example, the clinic recently completed a project at the Mascoma Meadows community in Lebanon, New Hampshire that includes 384 solar panels, which together can produce enough electricity annually to power approximately half of the 50 homes in the park. The panels were estimated to offset approximately 185,862 pounds of carbon pollution each year—the equivalent of taking 17 cars off the road annually. The panels will also save each participating household hundreds of dollars in annual energy costs.

Energy Clinic students Bede Emuka MELP’20, Christopher Heine MERL’20, Sally Natasha LLM’20, and Lucas Joseph, JD/MERL’21 visit the White Rock resident-owned community in New Hampshire.

“The Mascoma Meadows project has not only brought direct benefits to its members through lot rent reductions and reduced carbon footprint, it has also inspired other communities like it to explore the possibility of renewable energy,” Oliver said.

The clinic recently completed another similar project at the White Rock community in Tilton, NH and is now working with a resident-owned mobile home park at Aberdeen West Cooperative in Stratham, NH to develop a third. Clinic students work with the client communities to apply for grant funds, contract with solar installers, draft legal agreements, apply for necessary land permits, and assist with grant compliance.

One barrier to solar power is the perception that solar, and other renewables, are a luxury for wealthy communities only. Our projects are helping to break down this barrier.

— JEANNIE OLIVER LLM’14

They are also working to shape state policy. When New Hampshire was revising its net metering program—a billing mechanism that credits solar energy owners for the electricity they add back to the grid—students participated in a Public Utility Commission rulemaking to implement an “adder” (extra compensation) for solar projects in low-moderate income communities. The adder provides an additional 2–3 cents per kilowatt hour to the previous rate for electricity produced by low-moderate income solar projects, amplifying the positive benefits of renewable energy for the communities the clinic serves.

Bringing Community Solar to a Local Farm

Community solar projects allow households and businesses to join forces and “go solar” even if they don’t Kevin Jones own a space to support a solar panel. This past summer, Energy Clinic students supported one such project close to VLS campus: at Putting Down Roots Farm, a sustainable, diversified animal and vegetable operation in Royalton, Vermont. The students successfully developed and filed a permit application for a 150-kilowatt solar array that will be owned and managed by around 30 local businesses and residents. The renewable energy credits generated will remain with the community members and reduce their carbon footprints. “The permitting process was funded with an innovative seed capital grant, that, once repaid at project closing, will be available to fund future community solar permitting projects,” said Institute for Energy and the Environment (IEE) Director Kevin Jones. “That will reduce the financial risk to participants, making solar energy more accessible in our local community.”

Professor and IEE Director Kevin Jones