Communities

Revitalizing local communities with solar and renewable energy

A community benefit

Our team partners with local communities across the Northeast and beyond to deliver clean, affordable and reliable power to foster healthy communities and keep the lights on. A solar or storage project delivers a number of benefits to the community it serves.

Economic benefits

As technology advances and the cost of solar and storage decline, the economic benefits of going solar continue to rise. There are various economic opportunities that make a solar a lucrative investment.

Economic benefits of going solar for communities include:

• Reduced or eliminated energy bills
• Increased grand list values
• Increased property tax revenue
• Lease revenue, if the project is sited on municipally-owned land or buildings

Public health benefits

Everyone has the right to breathe clean air and drink clean water. Unfortunately, burning carbon-intense fossil fuels to power our homes, businesses, and transportation needs pollutes our air and water and contributes to climate change. 

Public health benefits of going solar include:

• Zero emissions from a carbon-free fuel source 
• Offset carbon emissions from cars and busses
• Reduced need for traditional power plants like coal and natural gas
• Reduced need for electrical transmission lines

Environmental benefits

In addition to climate benefits, community-scale clean energy also provides a number of positive environmental benefits. 

Environmental benefits include:

• Support for pollinator-friendly habitat
• Habitat restoration on contaminated sites like brownfields and landfills
•  Much needed shade for livestock like sheep and poultry
• “Land banking” for future agricultural use and soil quality improvements

Energy resiliency 

Due to climate change, extreme weather is becoming more frequent and disruptive. As a result, homeowners, businesses, communities, and utilities are all becoming more and more interested in securing energy supply solutions that offer resiliency and energy security. 

For example, a solar array paired with a battery storage solution can offer homeowners and businesses the comfort that they can still have power during outages. Critical institutions such as hospitals and airports are also seeking larger-scale solutions for similar reasons. And utilities are looking at innovative ways to utilize solar plus grid-scale storage solutions to create microgrids, so that electricity can be provided on a reliable basis for certain circuits that supply critical infrastructure. 

Current Encore community projects:

Let’s talk about your project.