Cooperative Energy Futures

USA

Cooperative Energy Futures (CEF), based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has created a cooperative “community solar garden” model, in which a large building or open field houses a solar array that produces energy on behalf of community subscribers. CEF’s first cooperatively-owned installation, the Shiloh Temple Solar Garden, supports the church, a nearby mosque, and 29 nearby residents who opted in to share in credits from the energy produced on their utility bill. The company has several more community solar gardens in the works; most focus on empowering renters and low-income households to participate in the benefits of cooperatively owning clean energy. To learn more, tune into this video and podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, and read about the system on the CEF website.

Photo: Oleg Savitsky (CC BY-SA 4.0)