Washington State’s Snohomish County PUD on March 22 was joined by partners from the City of Everett, Wash., the Washington State Department of Commerce and others, to officially break ground on the PUD’s newest community solar project.
Construction will begin this month on the project that will be built in south Everett and generate funds that will assist PUD customers having trouble paying their bill.
The name of the project is, “El Sol al Alcance de tus Manos” or “the sun at your fingertips.”
Partially funded by the Washington Department of Commerce’s Clean Energy Fund, the south Everett solar project will direct solar generation benefits to Project PRIDE, the PUD’s customer-funded income-qualified program that currently serves 500 customers annually.
Project PRIDE, which is administered by St. Vincent de Paul, provides one-time grants for families and individuals who need help paying their energy bills. Project PRIDE will receive an estimated additional $22,000 in annual energy credits through the community solar project.
“This project is a great example of how partnerships at the local, state and federal level can allow us to power more homes and businesses with clean energy and help our most vulnerable customers at the same time,” said John Haarlow, PUD CEO/General Manager, in a statement. “We’re looking forward to completing construction this year and then gathering the community in summer of 2025 to celebrate.”
When completed, the solar array will have a capacity of 400 kilowatts DC.
“Engaging community members in the project, including inspiring and selecting the name “El Sol al Alcance de tus Manos” has been a priority for the PUD,” said Suzy Oversvee, Program Manager at the PUD. “We hope that this project can serve as an example of how through partnerships we can increase access to the benefits of solar and other clean energy technologies for all community members.”
The location of the solar array will enhance energy resiliency in a dense urban community with heavily loaded electric circuits in the summer, the PUD noted.
In helping site the solar array, the City of Everett has played a crucial role in facilitating connections with community members and working with the PUD to make improvements to the surrounding property to enhance nearby pedestrian paths and plant additional trees to mitigate those that must be removed to accommodate the solar panels.
When the project is completed, art created by young people connected with the Casino Road neighborhood will adorn the fence and help integrate the project into the community. The PUD has hired three local artists, Yessica Marquez, Luisana Hernandez, and Ruben Trujillo to prepare the overall design of artwork for the fence.
The PUD was awarded a grant worth $878,037 under the Washington Clean Energy Fund 3 Low-Income Community Solar Deployment Program to help pay for the project.
Washington State’s Clean Energy Fund is managed by the Washington State Department of Commerce, which supports the development, demonstration and deployment of clean energy technology.
The cost to build the project is approximately $2.2 million. The PUD is pursuing additional state and federal tax incentives available for low-income community solar projects.
For more information, visit snopud.com/el-sol.
