Groundswell is managing a community solar project for DC residents

D.C.-based environmental advocacy nonprofit Groundswell announced that it is managing a new community solar project in the District.

The organization delivers shared solar initiatives that deliver energy equity and economic opportunity. This new project being built by NHT Ingenuity Power and Solar Renewable Energy will live at the Rhode Island Row apartment complex in the Brentwood area, and renters and homeowners in D.C. can now apply through Groundswell to get access.

For Groundswell’s shared solar initiatives, local residents can buy subscriptions to a community solar array and each month, they will get a credit on their electricity bills for the solar power they produced. Each subscriber pays $48.71 for a three-kilowatt subscription.

Through its Share Power program, the nonprofit is also providing free clean power to low-income families. Groundswell uses a portion of the money collected from subscribers to fund this initiative.

“Energy is a necessity. We’re all in this together, and we can’t afford to leave our neighbors in need behind,” said Groundswell CEO Michelle Moore in a statement. “The maxim to ‘love thy neighbor as yourself’ is what drove us to create Share Power. It allows our neighbors to share in the benefits of reliable, clean, safe solar power, no matter their income.”

You don’t have to live in the Brentwood area to gain access to this solar power project: Groundswell reports that any residential Pepco customer living in the D.C is eligible. The solar power project offers up to 322 Pepco customers a chance to switch to solar, and can potentially help an expected 66 low-income families get free clean energy through Shared Power, a press release states.