{"id":5120,"date":"2025-03-24T23:58:10","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T03:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/weact.org\/?post_type=program&p=5120"},"modified":"2025-06-03T10:45:34","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T14:45:34","slug":"community-power","status":"publish","type":"program","link":"https:\/\/weact.org\/es\/programs\/community-power\/","title":{"rendered":"ARCHIVE: Community Power"},"template":"","class_list":["post-5120","program","type-program","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","program_tax-community-power"],"acf":{"details":{"featured_image":5130,"program_type":false,"abstract":"Community Power was a community solar project we worked on in East Harlem."},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_hero_links","acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_hero_links":{"title":"","abstract":"","links":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"The Challenge<\/strong>\r\nIn the wake of Superstorm Sandy, WE ACT for Environmental Justice (WE ACT) worked with community members to develop a\u00a0Northern Manhattan Climate Action plan<\/a>. The plan identified the need for energy independence as a priority in Northern Manhattan, and specifically for alternatives to the fossil fuel power being offered by existing utilities.\r\n\r\nLow-income communities and communities of color, like those found in Northern Manhattan, are disproportionately impacted by air pollution and greenhouse gases produced by burning fossil fuels. A\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0found that air pollution contributed to at least 2,700 premature deaths annually in New York City, and\u00a0studies<\/a>\u00a0show that people of color are suffering a disproportionate impact. Air pollution also proved to be\u00a0a key factor in COVID-19 mortality rates<\/a>, which also impacts communities of color disproportionately.\r\n\r\nSolar Power is a renewable source of energy that helps reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. However, as we learned, there are a number of potential barriers to solar power in New York City. This is particularly true in the neighborhoods of Northern Manhattan, where high costs, limited roof space, and the fact that renters typically have little say in the decision-making process were the most common obstacles we encountered.\r\n\r\nTo overcome these challenges, WE ACT partnered with Solar One and the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board to launch\u00a0Solar Uptown Now<\/a>\u00a0(SUN) in 2016. SUN targeted Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) cooperatives for solar installations because they make up the bulk of New York City multi-family affordable housing that is owned by the occupant, which means the residents typically have a say in their energy choices, and there is a high density of these buildings in Northern Manhattan. In addition, we trained local residents to do the actual installations, creating green jobs for the community.\r\n\r\nAs of\u00a0March 2020<\/a>, SUN has installed solar panels on the roofs of 11 HDFC buildings in Northern Manhattan, annually producing 415 KW-DC of renewable energy while avoiding 802 pounds of nitrogen oxide, a leading source air pollution and a contributor to global warming. The program also provided significant cost savings for building residents and created six good, green jobs for members of the community.\r\n\r\nBut expanding solar beyond this growing list of HDFCs and a handful of privately owned residences remained a challenge. To address the need for energy independence in Northern Manhattan, an alternative approach was needed.\r\n\r\nThe Solution<\/strong>\r\nLooking to explore community solar, in which one rooftop installation offsets the energy costs of anyone in the neighborhood willing to join a community solar cooperative, WE ACT partnered with Solar One, the New York City Community Energy Cooperative, Brooklyn Movement Center, Green City Force, and Con Edison to establish\u00a0Community Power<\/a>\u00a0in 2019.\r\n\r\nCommunity Power is a partnership that is installing solar panels on the roofs of buildings in three New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments: Carver Houses in Northern Manhattan\u2019s East Harlem and Glenwood Houses and Kingsborough Houses in Brooklyn. Once completed, the installations will generate 1.2 MW-DC of community solar from panels installed on the roofs of 40 residential buildings across the three developments.\r\n\r\nNearby Con Edison customers living in low- to moderate-income housing will be able to join the New York City Community Energy Cooperative and enjoy savings on their electricity bills while helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Members of the New York City Community Energy Cooperative will receive monthly solar credits, which they can use to reduce their electricity bill by as much as 15 percent each month.\r\n\r\nWhile residents of those NYCHA developments are not allowed to participate in the program due to NYCHA regulations, WE ACT and Green City Force are recruiting unemployed and underemployed tenants from those developments to do the solar installations. Successful applicants will be able to earn their 30-hour OSHA certificate and become certified solar installers \u2013 free of charge \u2013 opening the door for a career in the solar industry.\r\n\r\nCommunity Power is providing this free job training to 30 NYCHA residents. And the contracted installer for the program, Accord Power, has committed to hiring at least 15 apprentices from those trainees to work on the solar installations at all three sites.\r\n\r\nDespite setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Community Power has already begun recruiting job training applicants and reaching out to low- to moderate-income residents in the surrounding neighborhoods to join the solar cooperative. By early 2021, when the installations are expected to be operational, members will begin to see money-saving solar credits on their monthly Con Edison bills.","include_drop_cap":false}}]},"yoast_head":"\nARCHIVE: Community Power - WE ACT for Environmental Justice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/weact.org\/es\/programs\/community-power\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ARCHIVE: Community Power - WE ACT for Environmental Justice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/weact.org\/es\/programs\/community-power\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WE ACT for Environmental Justice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-03T14:45:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/weact.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Community-Power.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"660\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"236\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/weact.org\/programs\/community-power\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/weact.org\/programs\/community-power\/\",\"name\":\"ARCHIVE: Community Power - 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