On August 3, three regional nonprofit organizations – RiverWise, the Pennsylvania Solar Center, and New Sun Rising – announced a partnership among the three organizations called “Rural Innovation through Solar Empowerment” (RISE) will receive $100,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy to help Beaver County organizations in Justice40 communities go solar.

Administered through the DOE’s Energizing Rural Communities Program, the funds will help the partner team guide businesses, nonprofits, and other non-residential organizations in making the transition to solar energy and in joining the new clean energy economy.

Justice40 communities are communities that have over the years been marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution, and to which the federal government has pledged to direct 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments.

In Beaver County, these communities include Aliquippa, Beaver Falls, Ambridge, New Brighton, Monaca, Midland, and Freedom.

“RiverWise is committed to ensuring that Beaver County’s Justice40 communities are benefitting from federal investments in the new energy economy, and we’re thrilled DOE has agreed to help us get there,” said Daniel Rossi-Keen, Executive Director at RiverWise, the team lead for the collaboration. “Our RISE partnership will serve as an incubator and pilot for expanding solar adoption in rural communities and developing a replicable process that we can spread across the state and the nation.”

“The Pennsylvania Solar Center is honored to have been chosen along with our partners to help Beaver County businesses and nonprofits navigate the path to going solar,” said Sharon Pillar, Founder and Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Solar Center. “There has never been a better time in our history to go solar, with the expansion and extension of the solar tax credit to 30 percent until 2032, as well as accelerated depreciation, USDA REAP grants, and savings from the solar power itself. Many clients from our various GET Solar technical assistance programs realize significant savings almost immediately. We greatly look forward to helping Beaver County’s Justice40 communities unlock the power of solar.”

“New Sun Rising and our RISE partnership pride ourselves on our longstanding dedication to environmental justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion principles, and sustainable community development,” said Scott Wolovich, Executive Director of New Sun Rising. “We’re thrilled and so grateful to have the opportunity to transition Beaver County into the new energy economy, create good-paying jobs, and lower energy prices for all energy consumers.”

“The people of Beaver County deserve power they can count on, clean air, good-paying jobs, and lower energy prices," said Congressman Chris Deluzio (D). “I am thrilled that the U.S. Department of Energy is awarding $100,000 to Project RISE to support solar power in Beaver County, grow energy jobs, and help my constituents save money on their electricity bills. I was proud to submit a letter supporting this grant application.”

The team seeks to democratize solar energy access in rural Beaver County — a county that is far behind in solar adoption with only 8.9 MW of installed solar capacity and only two projects generating greater than 50 kW.

Driven by the Justice40 Initiative, their aim is to foster clean energy adoption, enhance community resilience, encourage rural energy independence, and develop resources to guide rural solar innovation.

The team will ultimately leverage their broad network of existing community partners to pinpoint 25 prospective rural energy projects in rural Beaver County, offering them technical support on everything from feasibility to finance, with the ultimate goal of placing at least 10 of these projects out to bid.

This process will yield a Solar Justice40 Toolkit for local stakeholders.

They will also deploy an engaging storytelling and marketing campaign, showcasing the potential and benefits of rural solarization at five key sites including a museum, eco-park, coffee shop, municipal complex, and sports center.

RISE will culminate in a public event intended to celebrate progress, envision the future, and detail tangible next steps for actualizing identified projects.

Entities that go solar wisely recognize that an investment in renewable energy is also an investment in their local communities.

Pennsylvania renewable energy projects have created almost 10,000 jobs spanning the entire supply chain since 2004, from technicians and engineers to salespeople, construction workers, and manufacturers.

And according to the Finding Pennsylvania Solar Future Project, increasing the solar portion of the state’s electricity mix from the current 0.5 percent goal to 10 percent by 2030 would create upwards of 100,000 jobs and result in a net economic benefit of $1.6 billion annually.

The current 0.5 percent goal flat-lined on May 31st of 2021, but if the state’s General Assembly would increase it, they would diversify our energy mix that will help to stabilize rising electricity costs that we have seen in the past couple of years.

Click Here to watch a video about the Rural Innovation through Solar Empowerment initiative.

NewsClips:

-- Beaver County Times: RiverWise, PA Solar Center, New Sun Rising Receive Federal Grant To Expand Solar Adoption In Beaver County

-- TribLive: Power Up: Solar-Power Installations Jump To More Than 40,000 Across The State; Homeowners See Electric Bills Drop

-- Inquirer - Frank Kummer: Philadelphia’s Large Solar Energy Facility Near Gettysburg 50% Complete And Set To Produce Power By End Of The Year

-- PennLive: Philadelphia’s Large Solar Energy Facility In Adams County Set To Produce Power By End Of Year

-- StateImpactPA: PASA Sustainable Agriculture Pitches Farms On Solar Energy Facility Model That Keeps Farmland Usable, Takes Up Less Space

-- The Center Square: Senate Bill Argues Brownfields Are Better For Solar Energy Facilities Than Farmland

-- Citizens Voice Editorial: Build Solar Energy Facilities In Urban, Rural Settings

Related Articles:

-- TribLive: Trib Total Media Partners With Citizens Financial Group To Support Clean Energy Efforts By Nonprofits  [PaEN]

-- Sustainable Pittsburgh Selected As One Of 20 Regional Green Jobs Centers To Train Individuals For Climate-Resilient Jobs  [PaEN]

-- Guest Essay: Investing In Clean Energy Will Benefit PA Communities, Create Jobs, Generate Tax Revenue And Significantly Reduce Climate Changing Emissions - By Lori Brennan, The Nature Conservancy-PA  [PaEN]

-- Aug. 16 Shaping The Pennsylvania Clean Energy & Efficiency Workforce Future Webinar  [PaEN]

-- EPA Hosting Online Investing In America - Climate Action Funding Fair Starting Aug. 7   [PaEN]

[Posted: August 3, 2023]

8/7/2023