Community Solar

Community Solar allows residents to subscribe to solar panels installed anywhere in the city to reduce their electricity bills. The program makes the savings of solar power accessible to more people, especially renters. Community Solar subscribers are projected to save up to 20 percent on their electric bills.

Evelyn Turner, Together New Orleans leader from
Level Ground Community Church

“Community Solar will help families with their utility bills, not just month-to-month, but over the long-haul.”

Sr. Alicia Costa, Together New Orleans leader from
the Sisters of the Holy Family

“Community Solar will allow our project, and hopefully dozens of others, to move forward and serve the families that need it most.”

Overhauling Regulations to Serve Families

New Orleans ranks third in the nation for the most expensive energy based on the percentage of income the median household spends on energy. Community Solar is supposed to help people save money on bills and access clean electricity no matter where in the city they live. New Orleans City Council first created a Community Solar program in 2018, but there have not been any projects since then because the rules made them unfeasible.

Together New Orleans intervened in City’s Community Solar docket to represent the interests of low-income families, renters and people on fixed incomes. We commissioned two studies with assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy and worked with Councilmembers on rule changes, especially relative to increasing the price for solar credit per kWh, that will enable the program to succeed. In October 2023, the Council’s Climate Change and Sustainability Committee passed the rule changes unanimously.