Movement for Solar Capacity and Leadership

Community Success Manager, Cee Williams, alongside organization representatives for the Solar Capacity and Leadership retreat

Community Success Manager Cee Williams attended the Movement for Solar Capacity and Leadership retreat, sponsored by the People’s Solar Energy Fund, in early March to convene with 30 other community-minded organizations, developers, and individuals. Sessions included a debrief on the history of Durham economics and redevelopment efforts, non-traditional opportunities to fund solar projects, and an exploration of challenges and barriers organizations might face in deployment. 

A major takeaway from this retreat is that it is imperative to understand that federal grants will not be the only way to revolutionize the clean energy transition. The presentations shared during the weekend showcased this even further. SAGE Authority is a Sioux (Indigenous) owned utility that provides “power to the people”, quite literally. It was also reiterated that in order to fund a wide range of projects, suppliers of energy must utilize a wide range of financing options, including loans from CDFIs and Green Banks.