Reducing ROC Energy Costs
Efforts are underway to secure government grants that will use solar power to reduce energy costs in resident-owned communities.
Money-Saving Solar Funding on the Horizon
In 2021, the federal government passed the Inflation Reduction Act. The law created the $27B Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), which includes a program called Solar for All. In April 2024, the N.H. Department of Energy was awarded $43M from the GGRF funds for Solar for All grants in N.H. It is anticipated that N.H. ROCs will receive $5 to $6M for community solar arrays in the coming years.
We’re already hard at work on plans and applications related to this funding, so as it becomes available we’ll be able to work with interested communities and help them launch solar projects. ROC residents will see benefits from these projects in the form of energy savings and local job creation.
Now, this doesn't mean that we’re helping put solar panels on the roofs of manufactured homes. Many aren’t built for them. Instead, the projects install solar in the service area of the ROC for the community's benefit and the residents get a reduction on their energy bill each month.
How it Works
The New Hampshire Department of Energy is the primary recipient of the grant and will administer the funds. We’ll be a sub-recipient and use our portion of the funds for ROC-based community solar projects.
Once the funds are available to us, we’ll partner with interested ROC boards to review their site potential for solar, complete income surveys required of the program, and work with professional-contractors to install the community solar array. The ROC, which is a cooperative of homeowners in a manufactured-home park, owns the solar array, so the households in these communities get the benefits of the array. We’ll coach the members of the ROC board on how to manage this new asset, and we’ll connect with ROC residents and discuss whether or not they want to opt-in to the energy-cost reduction plan.
Residents who choose to opt in to net metering become part of New Hampshire’s Net Energy Metering (NEM) program, which allows participants to save on their electric costs. Savings are based on both the location’s energy use and the amount of energy produced by the solar array.
More Than Lower Power Bills
Net metering participants stay with their current electric utility, and the utility company and solar company work together to apply discount credits to the electric bill each month. Solar arrays and resident participants are connected to the grid, so if a grid experiences temporary interruptions to power production, residents’ electric supply will never be impacted.
Energy savings may mean that residents are able to upgrade to more efficient heating and cooling systems, leading to more comfortable, safer homes — and even more savings.
Past Wins & Future Goals
New Hampshire leads the nation in ROC-based community solar projects, and we here at New Hampshire Community Loan Fund know how to get them done. We’ve already completed three: Mascoma Meadows in Lebanon (the first solar-producing ROC in N.H.), White Rock Estates in Tilton, and Pine Hill in Conway. Three more have already received grant funding from the New Hampshire Department of Energy, including Rambling Woods in Bethlehem, Aberdeen West in Stratham, and Pine Gate in Plymouth.
We’re here to share information, to support ROCs as they decide whether Solar for All is right for their community, and to act as the grant administrator as we guide ROC boards throughout the project. We hope to complete 10 to 20 additional community solar projects over the next few years.
Current Data
We’ll let the number do the talking about what we’ve already accomplished.
108
homes already benefiting from solar power
85+
homes lined up to get power from the next round of solar arrays
176,507
kilowatt hours of electricity annually generated at Mascoma Meadows
384
panels in the Mascoma Meadows solar array, saving each participant about $270 per year
I’ve always been able to depend on the Community Loan Fund to look at something that is just a little bit offbeat.”
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