The roof on Lisa Lewis’ Waynesburg home is unsuitable for solar panels. It’s too small and doesn’t have enough sun exposure, a consultant told her after scanning a satellite image of her rooftop.
Undeterred, the 68-year-old retired psychologist began advocating for a solution beyond her property lines.
She is pushing for bills with bipartisan support in the Pennsylvania House and Senate that would authorize the development of community solar projects. The small solar installations on farms or other open spaces would be supported by community subscribers who then receive credits on their electricity bills for their share of the power produced by the panels.
The collective projects would allow renters, low- and moderate-income homeowners and those without large sunny roofs to access the benefits of rooftop solar arrays, including cleaner and cheaper energy than is typically available through the electric grid.
They would also support farmers who would get lease payments for hosting the projects.
The model is already common elsewhere. There are community solar projects in 40 states, and 20 states have laws that specifically authorize them.
A recent study conducted by Penn State researchers for the Coalition for Community Solar Access found that a 3-megawatt community solar facility — the maximum size envisioned by House Bill 531 and Senate Bill 705 is 5 MW — would save its subscribers a combined $90,000 on their electricity bills annually.
For Ms. Lewis, who once explored the possibility of erecting a wind tower with her neighbors when she lived in Kansas, the community aspect of community solar is part of the appeal.
“I want to see living-wage jobs that are good for the environment become available in our area,” she said.
When she was growing up in Canonsburg, her family had a farm for a time in Deep Valley, and they would also go to Greene County to hunt.
She lived in half a dozen states over the next decades because of school or work, most recently in Houston, Texas. For what would likely be her last move, she decided to return to southwestern Pennsylvania where she still had family.
She moved to Waynesburg 12 years ago and took a job at Cornerstone Care, a community health care network that serves parts of southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. She retired three years ago.
When she first moved back, she could not find anyone who would install rooftop solar panels in Greene County.
“I could find people who would do it closer to Pittsburgh. I even found some people who would do it in Morgantown,” she said. “But not in Waynesburg.”
She took advantage of Pennsylvania’s competitive electric market and shopped for a supplier that sources its electricity from renewable resources, like wind and solar.
She pays more for that option than she would for the default rate, she said, and it doesn’t really incentivize the development of new solar projects.
“If we had true community solar, the 50% of people who can’t put panels on their houses now could participate. Solar would become much more in demand, which would drive the price down,” she said.
She met with her state representative, Democrat Pam Snyder, to discuss her support for the legislation. Ms. Snyder later signed on as a co-sponsor.
She has also talked to neighbors and friends about community solar, with varied reception.
“Most people, I would say, are supportive and interested,” she said. “Some say, ‘Well, you are trying to get rid of the few good jobs we have left, in coal and fracking.’ That’s not what I’m trying to do. I’m just trying to expand.”
The Coalition for Community Solar Access counts 235 community solar facilities planned for Pennsylvania if the bills become law. Projects are planned for 48 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, including nine in Westmoreland, four each in Fayette and Beaver, three each in Allegheny and Washington, and two in Butler.
None are planned for Greene County — yet.
Laura Legere: llegere@post-gazette.com.
First Published: November 2, 2020, 11:00 a.m.
