Washington, D.C.— Today the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Community Solar Project announced a new target for deploying community solar programs nationwide. By 2025, DOE aims to enable the development of enough community solar to power 5 million American homes, saving customers an estimated $1 billion. The announcement comes on the heels of CCSA’s latest research showing that we must accelerate the development of community (& rooftop) solar to meet national clean energy, climate and equity goals at the lowest cost. Following is a statement from Jeff Cramer, Executive Director for Coalition for Community Solar Access:
“Today’s announcement from Secretary Granholm demonstrates the overwhelming support that’s building for the role community solar should play in transforming and strengthening our energy grid while expanding access to solar for all. We know customers want distributed solar energy and that local solar brings significant societal and grid benefits, but we need strong policies and goals to bring those benefits to fruition. DOE’s goal of 26 GW by 2025 is consistent with the accelerated growth that our research shows is needed for the community solar industry to meet our climate goals at the lowest cost. Congress and state policymakers should listen to the DOE and do their part to accelerate the growth of community solar so we can build a clean, cost-effective electric grid that works for all Americans.”
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