Arcadia and ENGIE North America expand solar power and savings for Massachusetts residents
Statewide community solar projects will provide access to renewable energy for all
Arcadia, the technology company empowering energy innovators and consumers to fight the climate crisis, has teamed up with ENGIE North America, a leader in developing and managing renewable energy projects, to deliver one of the largest rollouts of community-focused renewables in Massachusetts.
As many as two-thirds of American households are not suitable candidates for rooftop solar. Community solar solves this by connecting communities to nearby solar projects (also known as solar gardens), providing guaranteed savings on subscribers' monthly energy bills and adding clean energy to the local grid. Arcadia and ENGIE North America are rolling out a portfolio of new solar gardens as part of the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program to provide access to Commonwealth communities.
Two of the gardens are online now and the remainder are scheduled to be commissioned by early 2022. Once complete, the seven solar gardens will generate approximately 40 megawatts (MW) of renewable power for households, businesses, and communities across the Commonwealth, from Cape Cod to the Berkshires. The projects will produce enough energy to power more than 5,600 households annually.
"Community solar provides access to clean energy to businesses, communities, and lower-income households that cannot install rooftop solar and have been traditionally left out of the clean energy transition," said Joel Gamoran, Vice President and General Manager of Energy Services at Arcadia. "Access to clean energy shouldn't be a matter of circumstance or privilege — every homeowner, renter, and business owner should be able to enjoy the benefits of clean energy. We're excited to partner with ENGIE North America to accelerate the growth of community solar across the Commonwealth."
"We're proud to be a part of the Massachusetts community and to provide clean, renewable energy to local businesses and homes," said Jacques Boonen, Head of Distributed Renewables for ENGIE North America. "These seven projects are our first community solar gardens on the East Coast, and we look forward to continuing our work to make renewable energy more accessible to all."
Arcadia is the largest manager of residential community solar subscriptions in the US. The company has pioneered a no-credit-check, no long-term-commitment model that is consumer-friendly and opens access to everyone — regardless of economic status. When residents sign up for Arcadia's community solar program, they will join a local solar garden. When the solar garden generates electricity, subscribers will receive credits on their power bills, leading to net savings of 5-10%, and solar energy will flow into the local power supply.
For additional Information on the Massachusetts SMART Program, please visit www.mass.gov/solar-massachusetts-renewable-target-smart. More information about Arcadia's community solar offering for homes or businesses can be found at arcadia.com/community-solar.
About ENGIE North America
ENGIE North America Inc. offers a range of capabilities in the United States and Canada to help customers decarbonize, decentralize, and digitalize their operations. These include comprehensive services to help customers run their facilities more efficiently and optimize energy and other resource use and expense; clean power generation; energy storage; and retail energy supply that includes renewable, demand response, and on-bill financing options. Nearly 100% of the company's power generation portfolio is low carbon or renewable. Globally, ENGIE S.A. is a global reference in low-carbon energy and services that relies on their key businesses (gas, renewable energy, services) to offer competitive solutions to customers. With 170,000 employees, customers, partners, and stakeholders, the group is committed to accelerating the transition toward a carbon-neutral world, through reduced energy consumption and more environmentally friendly solutions.
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