Sunrun, BRIDGE Housing complete solar project serving 94 affordable rental homes
BRIDGE Housing, and Sunrun held a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of a new solar installation serving 94 affordable rental homes in Suisun City, California. The Cottonwood Creek solar project is 246 kilowatts, which provides nearly $47 per month in bill savings for residents via virtual net metering, along with job training in the rapidly growing clean energy sector.
In 2018, Sunrun made a commitment to develop 100 megawatts of solar on affordable multifamily housing in California by 2030 via the state Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing (SOMAH) program. Additionally, in 2021, Sunrun pledged to bring at least 500 megawatts of low-income solar to people across the country by 2030. These efforts will bring the benefits of solar to hundreds of thousands of families.
FYI, SOMAH is more accessible for smaller, independent solar installers thanks to new payment options. Our story from earlier in the year here.
SOMAH has a significant focus on workforce development and tenant engagement. Each SOMAH project, including Cottonwood Creek, offers paid job training opportunities in the rapidly growing clean energy sector. One of the trainees from Cottonwood Creek now holds a full-time job at Sunrun.
“At a time when national attention is on the high price of gasoline and inflation, Sunrun and BRIDGE Housing are demonstrating the triple bottom line opportunity presented by the historic SOMAH Program. Bill credits from this solar installation will provide real energy burden relief to Cottonwood Creek’s families now and for future generations and another SOMAH job trainee has a full-time career based on his work on this project. We’re excited to deploy the nearly $250m in funding we have available to replicate this success story all across California,” said Chris Walker of the SOMAH Program Administrator team.
Additionally, via the SOMAH program, Sunrun partnered with GRID Alternatives’ jobs training program to train more than 100 Californians in solar installation to date.
“I’m very excited to save some money on energy bills,” said Margaret Van Bibber, a Cottonwood Creek resident who works as an in-home care provider. “Even a little will go a long way to help with my daughter’s school supplies and other essentials.”
Cottonwood Creek, which opened in 2008, offers 94 affordable apartment homes for families; the median household income of residents is currently $25,707. The property consists of garden-style walk-up apartments with a Craftsman design, plus a community room and recreational amenities such as a pool, tot lot and picnic area. Cottonwood Creek’s environmentally-friendly features also include landscaping that minimizes the buildings’ solar gain in the summer, energy- and water-efficient fixtures and appliances throughout, and sustainable building materials.
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