Utility-Driven Solar Projects for Low-Income Customers

Some utilities have begun developing solar projects specifically to serve low-income customers and underrepresented neighborhoods. This webinar featured two utility pilot projects that are installing solar panels on rooftops in low-income neighborhoods. Paul Tyno of Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus in Buffalo, New York presented on National Grid’s Fruit Belt Neighborhood Solar Partnership, a project which is installing 500kW of rooftop solar in the Fruit Belt neighborhood of Buffalo. David Castro of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) in California discussed LADWP’s Solar Rooftops Program, which is installing up to 1MW of residential rooftop solar in Los Angeles, focusing on neighborhoods that have had low penetration of distributed solar. This webinar was produced by CESA for the Sustainable Solar Education Project as part of a series on strategies to ensure that solar remains consumer friendly and benefits low- and moderate-income households. This project is funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative.