Month: September 2023

Energized by Edison

Blanketing more than 20 acres of high desert near Adelanto are 7,000 solar panels that make up the Sheep Creek Community Solar Farm. Designed to generate enough clean energy to supply about 890 homes, the project will expand access to Southern California Edison customers who have so far been unable to access the growing solar power market.

Sheep Creek is SCE’s first community solar project as part of California’s Enhanced Community Renewables program, which allows utility customers to work directly with developers to subscribe to renewable energy projects in their communities. It’s designed to expand access to solar energy for customers who do not own their property, are not able to pay the upfront cost of solar installation or have a roof that is in poor condition or shaded.

“The launch of the Sheep Creek Community Solar Farm, which has been in the works for more than three years, marks a historic occasion,” said Eduyng Castano, SCE senior manager of Customer Generation Programs. “As part of an effort to expand renewable energy access to those who cannot obtain it, SCE is the first amongst the three investor-owned utilities to bring an Enhanced Community Renewables project online.”

The Community Renewables Program lets subscribers work directly with California solar developers to take part in a renewable energy project in their community. SCE buys the renewable energy produced by the solar farm, and the developer provides SCE with information to give the subscriber a bill credit based on the portion of the project’s output the subscriber uses.

The 3.8 MWdc project, developed and managed by renewable energy companies Catalyze and Ampion, so far has 241 subscribers.

“Community solar plays a key role in ensuring that participation in the clean energy transition is accessible to all,” said Catalyze CEO Jared Haines. “It is our hope that Sheep Creek can act as an example for other projects to follow statewide, and we can accelerate the execution of more community solar projects to help reach the goal of ensuring widespread availability of renewable energy.”

How does community solar work?

You sign up with Ampion to become a subscriber to receive solar energy.SCE buys solar energy from Ampion on the subscriber’s behalf.Subscribers receive a bill from Ampion for the portion of solar energy used.Ampion provides that information so SCE can give the subscriber a credit on their SCE bill.The credit is based on the portion of the project’s solar energy output that the subscriber has used (Subscribers who enroll in the program will start to receive an SCE bill credit within 60 days of enrollment).

SCE is actively pursuing programs and policies to support the use of solar energy to drive communities toward a cleaner, more sustainable future. Solar energy provided by the Sheep Creek Community Solar Farm will add to California’s renewable energy supply portfolio and assist in reaching the state’s goal of 100% renewable energy use by 2045. 

For more information about community solar, visit SCE’s Community Renewables Program page.

$50,000 to support local recovery efforts in north Florida$25,000 to support Florida’s agriculture community$25,000 to Feeding Florida

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., September 14, 2023 /3BL/ – To continue assisting our communities with disaster relief, the Duke Energy Foundation is committing an additional $100,000 in grants to support local recovery and disaster relief efforts in Florida.

“Our priority following a devastating storm like Idalia is helping customers get back to their lives,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. “We know this is a time of heartbreak and difficulty for many of our customers and we are grateful to be able to support the organizations that are helping them to rebuild and recover.”

These funds will be focused on delivering basic needs support and bolstering recovery efforts for those communities that have been severely impacted by Hurricane Idalia. This includes $25,000 to Feeding Florida, $25,000 to support Florida’s agriculture community and an additional $50,000 to support local recovery efforts in north Florida.

“Seven counties in Florida have been declared disaster areas by FEMA and Gov. DeSantis, which three of our food banks are directly serving,” said Robin Safley, Feeding Florida executive director. “In addition to ground zero in the Big Bend area, several counties facing massive flooding will see more limited access to resources than before, and delayed recovery.

“With the financial support of the Duke Energy Foundation, we will be able to provide support to these hardest-hit areas,” said Safley. “Our work has begun with MRE and water distributions, but we will quickly transition to providing additional resources, food boxes, produce, and the types of materials and support needed to clean and recover after such a devastating event.”

In advance of the storm, the Duke Energy Foundation donated $250,000 to the American Red Cross’ disaster responder program and $50,000 to the Volunteer Florida Foundation.

Hurricane Idalia made landfall on the northwestern side of Florida earlier this week, causing widespread power outages, flooding and damage to approximately 182,000 customers in Duke Energy Florida’s service territory.

Duke Energy Foundation

The Duke Energy Foundation provides more than $30 million annually in philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy customers live and work. The Foundation is funded by Duke Energy shareholders.

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America’s largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 50,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 27,600 people.

Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2050. The company has interim carbon emission targets of at least 50% reduction from electric generation by 2030, 50% for Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 upstream and downstream emissions by 2035, and 80% from electric generation by 2040. In addition, the company is investing in major electric grid enhancements and energy storage, and exploring zero-emission power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.

Duke Energy was named to Fortune’s 2023 “World’s Most Admired Companies” list and Forbes’ “World’s Best Employers” list. More information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos and videos. Duke Energy’s illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

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