"In a survey, only one of 22 co-ops offered a community solar program, and none helped members with “pay as you save” home energy efficiency."
"When members of a small rural electric cooperative in southern Alabama were asked in a survey whether they would support a community solar project, they said yes and the co-op board went on to authorize a 100 kilowatt project.
“People said, ‘yeah, I will take it,’” recalled Ed Short, the president, CEO and general manager of Covington Electric Cooperative, which serves 23,000 homes and businesses in parts of six counties. “We have enough that have committed that we can go forward” without any subsidies from other members, he said. “It had to be financially sound.”
So now Covington has authorized the construction of what Short called a “solar garden,” the 100 kilowatt array to be shared by scores of members who will pay $20 a month to get some of their electricity from the panels. A 100 kilowatt system is roughly the size of 20 typical rooftop systems."
James Bruggers reports for Inside Climate News August 25, 2021.
