Sun Share is a new program that offers a limited number of income-qualified members the opportunity to participate in our Community Solar gardens at no cost. Members who were recipients of the Low Income Energy Assistance Program or the Crisis Intervention Program during the past year were given the opportunity to apply, and an external agency assisted BEMC with the selection process.

Participants have been given subscriptions to solar panels at the co-op’s existing community solar gardens, and they will receive an average monthly bill credit of $15 for the power generated by the panels during the next 10 years. BEMC Sun Share was made possible through grants from the federal CARES Act from the NC Department of Environmental Quality State Energy Office and distributed by NC Clean Energy Technology Center, as part of an effort to increase equity in the benefits of renewable energy. Twenty-seven members are participating, and here is what two of them had to say:

“Sun Share is going to help quite a bit, it’s very advantageous. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but solar is sure to be a part of making it better.”
— Sun Share recipient

“I’m so glad to be a part of this program, I really am. It’s going to be great for us, I’ve been interested in solar energy, so to have a subscription to a solar panel makes me proud.”
— Sun Share recipient