Google Installing 500 Megawatts of Solar for Environmental Justice

Solar power is not just for rich people, but it’s not free and you typically need to show a decent credit score to finance it. As with many things in life, the less wealthy people in society are left behind a bit as we transition into this cleaner, more financially sensible (in the long term) technology. Google is aiming to help a bit.

Google and the distributed energy generation (DG) business unit of EDP Renewables North America, EDPR NA Distributed Generation LLC, are supporting an environmental justice project of 500 megawatts (MW) worth of distributed solar PV — 80 projects. The environmental justice program is helping more than 25,000 families in low-to-moderate income (LMI) communities in the US Northeast.

If you don’t recall hearing of any such projects before, that’s probably because you haven’t. This is the largest distributed solar development program in the US sponsored by a corporation.

“What we heard through interviews with local community leaders and Environmental Justice advocates was that the disproportionate impact of high energy burden remains a primary barrier to an equitable energy transition. Partnering with EDPR NA DG, we aim to reduce energy burden in the communities where we operate, while progressing toward our 24/7 carbon-free energy goal,” said Google Energy Lead Sana Ouji. “We are grateful to EDPR for their partnership, collaboration and steady focus on our shared mission, and excited to have the opportunity to contribute to our data center communities by extending the benefits of our clean energy investments.”

This program is being implemented, initially, in the PJM Interconnection service area, which goes from Ohio to New Jersey. However, if the program goes according to plan, I presume we’ll see it popping up in other regions and other utility districts.

The specific mechanics of this deal involve Google buying a new kind of renewable energy credits — ImpactRECs. These new RECs include direct community investment for the benefit of LMI communities. “The ImpactREC™ program synthetically provides similar economic benefits of community solar in jurisdictions currently lacking supportive legislation,” the companies write. “The EDPR NA DG team, led by Christopher Rittenhouse and Adam Woda, collaborated with Google over the last two years to conceive and develop the ImpactREC™ product and its supporting framework agreement.”

Google has long been a cleantech leader. This is yet another way that the Californian company is opening new doors and inviting corporate giants in to provide a cleaner world benefiting more of society. “The partnership with Google paves the way for the creation of a new, corporate-led, market segment focused on breaking down the typical barriers associated with the rapid, distributed, and equitable decarbonization of the energy system,” said Richard Dovere, Chief Investment Officer of EDPR NA DG. “A major feature of this partnership is its ‘open book’ approach. Over the coming weeks, we will release the blueprints to the market with the intention to make the ImpactREC™ the defining incentive methodology to enable localized renewable development linked with environmental justice.”

We’ve been covering Google’s leadership in clean energy essentially as long as we’ve been operating, since 2008. It has had its hands in promoting and using everything from geothermal energy to large solar to distributed solar to wind energy to home energy management tech to home heat pumps to electric vehicles. Frankly, good luck finding a portion of the cleantech market that Google hasn’t helped. But this new environmental justice initiative has to be one of my favorites. Kudos to the people who have pioneered this.