Getting involved in the clean energy movement is an effective way to facilitate positive change, but it's difficult to know where to start. Programs like Monroe Community Power’s solar initiative provide you with a great opportunity to support clean generation. Monroe Community Power (MCP), a municipally-endorsed community solar program offered by program administrator Joule, enables residents and small businesses with RG&E utility accounts to benefit from solar energy without needing to install panels on their home or property—and there’s no need to be a homeowner, either. Oh, and an added bonus? Those who enroll in this program receive guaranteed savings of up to 10% annually on their electricity bills, making this not only an environmentally beneficial decision, but a financially beneficial one as well. A win-win proposition!
Now you might be wondering, “What is community solar?” Good question! Simply put, community solar is a way for residential and small businesses utility account holders to save on their electricity bill, while supporting the development of local solar farms. All you have to do to participate is enroll in your municipality-endorsed community solar program. There is no upfront cost, and you can cancel at any time with no cancellation fees or penalties.
Ok, but how does it work?
HOW IT WORKS
Enroll to subscribe to a nearby solar farm. Once the farm goes live, your assigned share of the farm generates enough renewable energy to match nearly all of your typical annual electricity usage
The farm generates clean, renewable energy that’s fed into the power grid. As a solar farm subscriber, you earn solar bill credits (made possible by NY State incentives for renewable energy generation) that will be applied to your RG&E electricity bill, thereby lowering your electricity costs. RG&E still delivers your power—and they remain responsible for maintaining the power lines; but by subscribing to community solar, you’re essentially instructing the utility to purchase renewable energy for the amount of electricity you typically consume.
The solar credits you earned for the amount of energy generated by your share of the solar farm during the previous month are applied to your utility bill, reducing the amount you owe to RG&E. After you receive your solar credits, the solar farm manager charges you for 90% of the credit value already applied to your electric bill. You save the 10% difference!
It's that easy!
Still not convinced? Let's talk a little bit about the benefits of community solar.
EFFECTING CHANGE
Community solar gives you the opportunity to do your part to effect change without creating major changes to your everyday life. Because the community solar program doesn’t require you to own or install solar panels, you can benefit from solar energy as a homeowner or renter-- all you need is an eligible utility account, access to a computer and an email address.
Residents who enroll in community solar are helping to reduce carbon emissions in NY State, and facilitating local development of clean, renewable energy generation. Since many solar farms are only built and turned on after acquiring enough subscribers to ensure the project is financially viable, program participants are supporting solar farm development, adding clean energy to the power grid, helping fight climate change, fostering local energy independence, and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.
TIMING MATTERS
As MCP program administrator, Joule forms partnerships with various solar farm developers and managers. Because there is only so much power a solar farm can generate, projects become fully-subscribed and close to new enrollment. When this occurs, Joule does its best to find additional sites with available capacity and attractive terms. After filling up four operational sites, MCP community solar subscribers are now being assigned to farms currently under construction that are expected to be operational later this year.
You may ask yourself, “If the sites don’t go live until later this year, why do I need to sign up now?” There are several good reasons why you should sign up sooner rather than later. As explained above, many of the sites won’t be fully-developed until they have enough subscribers to operate efficiently. The sooner the farm owner has sold the capacity, the more likely the project will go live sooner thereby more quickly delivering the benefits of solar energy generation. Moreover, if you subscribe before a project is turned on, you’ll maximize your savings by accruing credits from the first day the farm is operational. But maybe most importantly, you can miss the opportunity to sign up for community solar altogether if you wait too long. Because there is only so much power a solar farm can generate and there are only so many solar farms operational or under development and planned to go live in the near-term in a given utility territory at a given time, it’s possible that all capacity is spoken for and enrollment is closed. Worried about being shut out of the program? That’s just one more reason to enroll today!
GIVING BACK
Last, but certainly not least, your enrollment in MCP’s community solar program helps raise money for local projects through Joule’s “Giving Back” program. For each enrollment, the program administrator allocates $50 to a municipal sustainability fund that can be used for a local project of your community’s own choosing. The “Giving Back” program transforms the opportunity into a win-win-win for your wallet, your community, and your world.
Getting involved in the clean energy movement and making a change doesn’t need to be complicated. Programs like Monroe Community Power’s community solar initiative are making participation even easier, creating opportunities for people to benefit personally while supporting a generation of positive change. So, enroll today to start reaping the benefits of solar energy!