A coalition of U.S. corporate giants has announced a nationwide employee benefits program designed to help bring cheap solar power to communities across all 50 US states and parts of Canada.
The Solar Communities Initiative is facilitated by the World Wildlife Fund and modelled on similar programs in towns and neighbourhoods elsewhere. The program offers 100,000 employees, friends and families of 3M, Kimberly-Clarke and The National Geographic Society discount rooftop solar energy systems at a flat rate 35 per cent lower than the national average and roughly 50 per cent less expensive than average electric utility rates.
“We are pleased to offer our US and Canada employees a renewable energy alternative to cut their own electric bills,” said Ali Ahmed, manager, Cisco Global Energy Management and Sustainability. “By extending the benefits of affordable solar energy that we have as a corporation to our employees and other stakeholders, we are multiplying our sustainability impact.”
According to the WWF, the program enables home owners to have solar panels installed without any up-front outlay. The organisation says if just one per cent of the workers went solar, 74,500 metric tons of carbon emissions would be avoided each year – the equivalent of taking more than 15,000 cars off the road.
“This takes the bulk purchase model from individual neighbourhoods and organisations to a national scale,” said Keya Chatterjee, senior director of renewable energy at WWF. “A coast-to-coast, low, flat rate helps mitigate two major barriers of solar adoption – complexity and price – making it possible for more American families to save the planet without leaving their homes.”
U.S. solar provider Geostellar, a company with an established Solar Community program in place, won an intensive bidding war under the Energy Department’s SunShot Incubator program and was chosen to coordinate all aspects of the initiative; including system design, supplying solar power systems and coordinating with local qualified solar installers.
