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Groundswell

Washington, D.C.

Grants

2023 (2 years)
$500,000

Groundswell guides residents and institutions through the legal and technical processes of participating in community solar and solar and resilience hubs. The former results in significant financial savings for ratepayers and less carbon pollution; community solar broadens immensely the type of households that can participate in and benefit from clean energy. The latter turns community assets into a safe haven during disasters. Groundswell has developed an innovative financing and project development approach that leverages the creditworthiness of local institutions to scale community solar projects by providing economically disadvantaged households a way to participate in them. All aspects of the organization's work demonstrate that clean energy can, and should benefit those most impacted by high bills and climate change. This award supports the organization’s general operations.

2020 (2 years)
$1,000,000

Groundswell guides residents and institutions through the legal and technical processes of participating in community solar, which is poised to become a significant source of distributed clean energy in the United States. Resulting in significant financial savings for ratepayers and less carbon pollution, community solar broadens immensely the type of households that can participate in and benefit from clean energy. Groundswell has developed an innovative financing and project development approach that leverages the creditworthiness of local institutions to scale community solar projects by providing economically disadvantaged households a way to participate in them. This award supports the organization’s general operations. 

2019 (2 years)
$1,000,000

Groundswell guides residents and institutions through the legal and technical processes of participating in community solar, which is poised to become a significant source of distributed clean energy in the United States. Resulting in significant financial savings for ratepayers and less carbon pollution, community solar broadens immensely the type of households that can participate in and benefit from clean energy. Groundswell has developed an innovative financing and project development approach that leverages the creditworthiness of local institutions to scale community solar projects by providing economically disadvantaged households a way to participate in them. This award supports the organization’s general operations.

2016 (2 years)
$500,000

Groundswell guides local residents and institutions through the legal and technical process of switching to clean energy and participating in energy efficiency programs. Community solar is poised to become a significant source of distributed clean energy in the United States, resulting in significant financial savings for ratepayers and less carbon pollution from electricity generation. However, the predominant way to finance a community solar project relies on a combination of good consumer credit and an equity investment, which means many low- and moderate-income households will not take advantage of this emerging technology. Groundswell has developed an innovative financing and project development approach that leverages the creditworthiness of local institutions to scale community solar projects by providing economically-disadvantaged households a way to participate in them.  The award supports project pre-development costs for community solar projects in low-income communities.