Environmental leaders joined Pepco and D.C. officials and stakeholders Thursday to celebrate the new community solar facility at Pepco’s Benning Service Center.
The center will help bring more affordable clean energy to residents and supports the District of Columbia’s leading climate goals, Pepco said. Owned and operated by NHT Ingenuity Power (NHTIP), a joint venture of National Housing Trust and Urban Ingenuity, the facility began operating this month, providing solar-generated energy to the local energy grid.
“Climate change, and its social and environmental effects, are among the most significant challenges facing the world today,” Dave Velazquez, president and CEO of Pepco Holdings, said in a statement. “The effort to build a clean energy future is accelerating. At Pepco, we know that our infrastructure for delivering energy to our customers and communities will be the connective platform for deploying the solutions needed, like this community solar facility, to help achieve the District’s clean energy and climate goals, equitable and inclusively, ensuring all residents have access to the benefits of clean energy.”
The facility, which is projected to produce 1.38 million kilowatt-hours each year, also provides both clean energy to the city and bill savings for low- to moderate-income households through DOEE’s “Solar for All program,” and is among the largest under the program.
Priya Jayachandran, National Housing Trust CEO, added that the project embodies NHT’s commitment to equitable clean energy solutions that share financial, environmental and health benefits with all D.C. residents.
“With the addition of our Benning Road project, NHT has helped drive 8.87 MW of solar power to affordable housing residents, owners, and buildings across the District,” Jayachandran said. “We are grateful for our continued partnership with Pepco, D.C. Department of Energy and Environment’s (DOEE) Solar for All program and Urban Ingenuity to advance an equitable carbon-neutral future.”
Tommy Wells, DOEE director, said that as Solar for All continues its rapid expansion, it will help Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration achieve its climate goals while ensuring that all District households benefit from the clean energy transition.
Qualified residents can sign up for Solar for All Community Solar by calling 202-299-5271 or going to doee.dc.gov/solarforall.