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    US Solar breaks ground on Community Solar Gardens to power low-income customers in Colorado

    June 22, 2022
    Called USS Giveback, the 2MW and 500 KW Solar Gardens will generate sufficient energy to power more than 600 Colorado homes annually. It will serve residents, businesses, municipalities and low-to-moderate income service organisations
    Previous US Solar project photo. Image credit Nichole Denver, Thousand Lakes Production
    Us Solar Project 62b30e431aa9a

    US Solar announced the groundbreaking of its first Community Solar Gardens with electric and gas utility Black Hills Energy in Pueblo, Colorado.

    Called USS Giveback, the 2MW and 500 KW Solar Gardens will generate sufficient energy to power more than 600 Colorado homes annually. It will serve residents, businesses, municipalities and low-to-moderate income service organisations in the greater Colorado region.

    Additionally, US Solar will donate $100,000 to ten local non-profit and community organizations, including local schools, food banks, housing support services and health resource organizations.

    “We call these projects USS Giveback because that is our goal. We are committed to giving back to the communities that host our Solar Gardens by providing widespread benefits, like these donations, savings on energy bills, and bringing more clean energy online to the local grid,” said Reed Richerson, COO of US Solar.

    By signing up for a Sunscription to US Solar’s Community Solar Garden, individuals and firms will have access to solar energy without any upfront costs and the hassle of solar panel installation.

    “As a recent solar customer, I am now seeing the benefits of adding solar power in our community. What’s even more exciting is the benefit for the families we work with,” explained Zane Grant, Executive Director of Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA of Pueblo). CASA of Pueblo is one of US Solar’s donation recipients. “This community solar project will make a difference for our citizens by removing some of the financial burden and stress of accessing solar power while also benefiting our precious environment.”

    The donation recipients include organizations such as CASA of Pueblo, which trains advocates for abused and neglected children in the court system, and housing services provider POSADA, among others.

    To date, US Solar has worked with more than 100 commercial and municipal customers and almost 3,000 residential customers. In Colorado, the firm is developing 14 Community Solar Gardens and offering them for subscription by Colorado Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy customers. 

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.