In 2018, CommonBond Communities was approached by Greenway Solar, a community solar provider, with an opportunity to purchase solar energy through its Impact CSG Installation, which focuses on subscribers who meet certain income restrictions. CommonBond was unfamiliar with renewable energy projects, but the Director of Facilities brought the proposal to CommonBond’s Internal Review Committee, and after some discussion received approval to enter into the contracts. Three CommonBond properties in North Minneapolis were eligible to participate in the program and signed 25-year contracts to purchase a portion of the Impact CSG installation. The three sites use 65% of the solar garden’s 417 kWh per year production or 271 kWh per year. Savings from the program are reinvested in the properties in the form of repairs and maintenance.
Community Solar Gardens are limited to specific geographies. According to Greenway Solar, “A Community Solar Garden (CSG) is typically a large-scale solar installation that allows individuals or businesses (subscribers) to obtain their energy from solar even if they are not able to utilize their own home/roof. The solar garden’s output is fed directly into the utility via an interconnection to Xcel’s grid. Based upon the output of the system the subscriber’s portion of the gardens production will be credited on their bill from the utility (Xcel). As a result, the subscriber will see immediate cut in electricity costs”.
CommonBond chose to enter into this program in Minnesota due to its existing solar community garden infrastructure and programs. CommonBond's North Minneapolis properties were eligible to participate in the program. Subscribers to the Impact CSG are required to meet certain income restrictions, and Greenway negotiated specific opportunities for non-profit multi-family housing owners to participate. Housing facilities are eligible if 95% or more of its tenants qualify for one or more of the following programs: Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Medical Assistance, Head Start, Free/reduced school meals, or HUD-assisted housing under Sections 8, 202, or 811, or any similar programs with eligibility no higher than 125% of the federal poverty guidelines.
History of Greenway Solar’s Community Solar Garden (CSG):
In 2013, Minnesota Renewable Energy Society (MRES) was awarded $2.6 million to build two solar arrays, one urban and one rural, to pilot community solar gardens (CSG). As a third-party provider, Greenway Solar was engaged by MRES to own and operate the MRES Renewable Development Fund (RDF) arrays and now manages the arrays exclusively for low-income subscribers.
A separate CSG program was initiated in the interim and implemented by Xcel Energy, which now includes hundreds of megawatts of solar arrays. As of 2020, the state of Minnesota had the most community solar capacity and was the leader in kWs of community solar per resident in comparison to the other states where CommonBond Communities operates. In addition, their Minnesota utility provider, Xcel Energy, contributes annually to the Renewable Development Fund from which grants are made to support energy-related research and energy production projects.
The CSG came online in 2018 through a partnership formed by Greenway, MRES, and Xcel Energy and has a capacity of 417 kW.
Subscribers to a regular Xcel Energy CSG must be Xcel Energy electric customers whose service is located within the same or an adjacent county as the CSG and any one subscriber can take no more than 40% of a CSG’s capacity.
The partnership with the CSG has produced $37,000 in solar credits for three sites over a three-year period.
CommonBond’s partnership with Greenway has delivered electric savings to three sites and reduced the organization’s carbon footprint with little risk or additional work. Additionally, Greenway recently approached CommonBond about a new partnership in Southern Minnesota that will provide credits to three of CommonBond Communities’ affordable sites in Goodhue and Rice counties.
