Sabri Fair: Mankato

“Community Solar Gardens make solar energy accessible for everybody. 

With traditional solar, you need a lot of money upfront to install panels on your home or business. If you don’t have that money sitting around, or you can’t finance it, you’re out of luck.

But Community Solar changes that. In my town, Mankato, Minnesota, about 200 people came together to build a Community Solar Garden.

We do it all through a solar company called Cooperative Energy Futures, that allows the 200 of us subscribers to essentially own a little part of the solar project. We get credits back on the energy produced, and I save about 10% on my bills.

For me, that’s nice. But for my roommate, who’s a carpenter and just got laid off, it’s even more meaningful. It helps during a slow season.

And now, policymakers are making it harder for Community Solar to succeed.

Last year, the Public Utilities Commission changed the rules and cut how much subscribers are compensated by about two cents per kilowatt. And that decision? It came after utilities were asked how much they think people should get paid— ie the utilities got to decide.

The utilities have had a long time to build solar. It’s so cheap and such a great opportunity for them, they could have built a lot of solar, but they really haven’t. 

Instead, two thirds of all the solar energy that’s produced and installed in Minnesota is from Community Solar Gardens. 

This model is a great way to get public/private investment and get community members involved to make solar happen.

And if we want to be at 100% clean energy by 2040, we need all the options we can utilize. 

And clearly, Community Solar Gardens will help!”

Sabri Fair
Mankato, Minnesota