Increasing Clean Energy Justice and Resilience for Faith Communities Through Solar Energy | Article

In partnership with the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice (ECJ) program and the Hawaii NAACP chapter, EESI convened a virtual event about solar energy and faith-based institutions in Hawaii. The Faith, Clean Energy, and the Green Fund event brought together groups from the islands and the mainland to discuss installing solar panels on faith-based institution property. Participants included the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority (Hawaii‘s Green Bank), Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO), and seven religious leaders interested in hosting solar to advance equity, environmental justice, and resilience.

The event’s purpose was to expand access to solar energy for these organizations and the communities they serve, most of which are communities of color. Expanding access to solar is the main goal of the NAACP’s Solar Equity Initiative, which is centered on climate justice and aims to help communities of color adopt and install solar. EESI is a member of the Solar Equity Initiative, along with more than two dozen other organizations, and contributed to the recently developed and released Equitable Solar Policy Principles.

Hawaii is an eager test bed for clean energy initiatives, as a rapidly warming world presents an especially serious threat for archipelagos like Hawaii. According to the Fourth U.S. National Climate Assessment Report, Hawaii will see warmer ocean temperatures, rising sea levels, increased and more severe hurricanes, and more extreme weather events like flooding and droughts. Numerous programs and community-based initiatives in Hawaii are already working to reduce carbon emissions to avoid the worst impacts from climate change.

Petroleum supplies the bulk of Hawaii's energy. Data: U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Despite the excellent solar resources available in Hawaii, about 70 percent of the electricity produced in the state comes from burning coal and petroleum. Because oil and coal need to be shipped in, Hawaii’s electricity prices are the highest in the nation, mean that low- and moderate-income households in Hawaii endure one of the highest energy burdens in the country. In addition to being costly, burning fossil fuels leads to higher levels of air pollution, which disproportionately affects low-income households, indigenous people, and people of color.

Installing solar energy systems could help alleviate some of these burdens for Hawaiian residents, by lowering energy bills and reducing pollution. To achieve a just energy transition and meet Hawaii’s clean energy goals, solar energy needs to be accessible to renters, low-and medium-income households, and communities of color. Hawaii is a national leader in offering accessible solar solutions to these communities, including through a community solar program and an inclusive on-bill financing program for solar energy.

Faith leaders who attended the event learned about different options to finance solar panels, lower their energy usage, and reduce carbon emissions. Installing solar on faith-based buildings, such as churches, temples, or mosques, can help them save money they can use to achieve their mission work with communities of color and low-income communities, which tend to experience high energy burdens and live close to pollution sources . Buildings that host solar systems can also be paired with energy storage and serve as community resilience shelters during severe weather or other emergencies causing power outages. Ultimately, these projects generate economic development and jobs, strengthen communities, and create community wealth.

“Communities of color and environmental justice communities have traditionally been excluded from accessing solar, and so these communities suffer from low solar adoption rates,'' said Denise Abdul-Rahman, a field organizer for the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program and a presenter at the event. “This initiative is framed within the necessity for good stewardship for the planet that offers the opportunity for our communities to empower themselves, and to have a commitment to integrate equity access to clean energy, which leads to thriving and resilient communities.”

There are existing programs in Hawaii that can help residents and faith-based organizations install solar and advance energy equity. Gwen Yamamoto Lau, the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority’s executive director, presented on the Green Energy Money $aver (GEM$) on-bill program she manages. GEM$, which EESI helped develop, is an inclusive financing program focused on increasing access to solar energy for low-and moderate-income households, multifamily tenants, commercial accounts, and nonprofits, that have traditionally not been able to access solar energy. Capitalized by the Hawaii Green Bank, GEM$ finances on-site solar regardless of income, credit, or renter status. Lau explained how the program could help faith leaders install solar, with no upfront costs, and repay the energy investment over time using the savings generated.

“The GEM$ on-bill program is designed to make clean energy more accessible and democratize energy by removing barriers for low- and moderate-income households to own clean energy,'' said Lau.

The average price of electricity in Hawaii is far higher than the rest of the U.S. Data: U.S. Energy Information Administration

Another existing program that can help increase solar access is the Community-Based Renewable Energy program (CBRE), which HECO recently launched. CBRE program manager Mark Wong explained how this program improves clean energy access for low- and moderate-income households, particularly those living in buildings that cannot support solar systems or cannot afford installing solar panels. CBRE allows customers to participate directly in community solar through a bill credit arrangement that offsets their monthly energy consumption. Sponsor organizations, including nonprofits and faith-based organizations, finance and install solar panels, and the energy produced is “shared” with subscribers in the surrounding community, which must consist of at least 50 percent low- or moderate-income households.

“The CBRE program offers expanded opportunities for low-income customer participation, and many faith-based organizations have expressed interest in this program,” said Wong. “The solar subscriptions will allow a wide range of customers who have not been able to benefit [from] savings from rooftop solar to be part of our renewable energy revolution.”

The Faith, Clean Energy, and the Green Fund virtual event brought together partners, like a green bank, the NAACP, and a utility, that might not otherwise be in one single room. It showed how a green bank can finance solar energy panels for faith-based institutions through an inclusive financing program with support from the NAACP. “The Honolulu Hawaii NAACP Faith, Clean Energy, and the Green Fund workshop elevated us to a new level of environmental empowerment and allowed our faith leaders to explain to their congregations how we can become part of the solution to mitigate the adverse impact of climate change,” said Alphonso Braggs, president of the Hawaii NAACP chapter. “This event offered access to the resources available to help transform our facilities into energy-efficient places of worship that also provide a huge economic benefit and can also serve as resilience shelters.”

If successful, the NAACP would support these inclusive financing programs nationwide by replicating the GEM$ model of installing and financing solar panels for faith-based institutions so as to generate energy savings and reduce carbon emissions in surrounding communities. Local and state NAACP chapters, can work with their communities to implement these inclusive financing programs for solar, with NAACP ECJ staff and EESI guidance.

EESI Senior Associate Miguel Yanez-Barnuevo helped bring the parties together for the Faith, Clean Energy, and Green Fund event and provided a presentation.

Author: Miguel Yanez-Barnuevo