With 325 members and 5,000 supporters in New England and New York over the past five years, Co-op Power has raised more than $225,000 in Member Equity to support the development of community-scale clean energy projects. Co-op Power Members have received $4,000 in rebates on bioheat, $23,703 in rebates on clean energy systems, and $319,236 in incentives for clean energy systems. Their projects include community-scale solar, wind, biofuel, and biomass projects as well as a variety of small “green job” business development projects. The organization has installed 30 solar hot water systems and another 25 renewable energy systems generating more than 90 kilowatts of electricity.
Co-op Power has researched a wide variety of corporate structures that enable communities to partner with investors to create community-owned green jobs and green energy. They have built a team of engineers, financial experts, green building specialists, community economic developers, lawyers and business planners who can help groups of people in a community research, design, finance and build their community-owned sustainable energy businesses. Communities can access these resources on a consulting basis or they can join Co-op Power to gain access to member programs.
Various Projects:
A sustainable biodiesel plant in the Pioneer Valley (Mass.): The plant will make 10 million gallons a year of biodiesel from recycled vegetable oil (a waste product). They have raised $2.35 million in Co-op Power member equity, grants and loans to build the plant. They purchased 26.5 acres in the Greenfield Industrial Park for the plant.
A solar electric system: Co-op Power supported the installation of a 30 kilowatt solar electric system on the roof of River Valley Market, a food cooperative in Northampton MA.
Various cooperatives: Co-op Power is working with Alternatives for Community and Environment to build community-owned green jobs in limited resource communities in the Greater Boston area including Roxbury, Dorchester, Chelsea, Cambridge and Boston. Groups are interested in building a solar installation cooperative, a thermal window covering manufacturing and installation cooperative and a green builders cooperative.
Support for worker-owned green job development: Co-op Power is working with ICA Group to provide support for worker-owned green job development in the Northeast region.
Research: Co-op Power assisted municipalities in upstate NY research the feasibility of purchasing several dams. Co-op Power is also working with forest owners, foresters, loggers, businesses, institutions, and consumers in Franklin County to create a sustainable biomass infrastructure that will give a fair price to forest owners and a fair price to consumers while protecting forest resources and local air quality. The group is researching small biomass plant options, a chipping operation, a change out program for old stoves, and bulk purchasing programs for pellets and cord wood.
Learn more at http://www.cooppower.coop
Stacey Meinzen has a broad range of experience in climate change policy. From her work with ICLEI doing a municipal greenhouse gas inventory to her news coverage of climate change for Flex Your Power's e-Newswire, to her research on climate change policy for Green For All, she has absorbed a range of views and interests about the best way to deal with this complex issue. Her primary interest is in local solutions that can be executed with sound policy to support them. She founded ClimateActionPlans.com to highlight key green projects and the programs and policies that allow them to happen.