Building for the Future, Part I: Employing the Energy Communities Adder in Michigan
A spotlight on how Sunwealth is utilizing the Inflation Reduction Act’s Energy Communities Adder to maximize solar savings in Michigan.
Our 26 kW solar project developed in partnership with Chart House Energy for Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lansing, MI.
Over the last nine years, Sunwealth has accumulated expertise in community-based solar and impact –financing and developing solar projects while delivering electricity savings, green jobs, and emissions reductions to communities across the country. But we know that accelerating the clean energy transition requires rejecting complacency and scaling our impact through continuous advocacy, learning, and innovation.
In our new multi-part blog series, “Building for the Future,” we are highlighting the way Sunwealth is growing our impact through harnessing innovative climate-focused technologies, policy, and partnerships. In our first installment, we share how we are employing the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credit incentives by installing projects in areas facing disproportionate climate burdens and limited access to solar.
BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
Part I: The IRA
The purple and orange regions are eligible for the IRA’s Energy Communities Adder. Source: U.S. Department of Energy
Sunwealth continually advocates for and puts into practice policies that can empower and unite underserved communities. The Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) Energy Community Adder is a perfect example of this, as it incentivizes the growth of solar economies in regions that could be most disadvantaged by a transition away from fossil fuels.
Sunwealth recently completed two projects in partnership with Chart House Energy, a Muskegon, MI-based solar installer serving Michigan and beyond. They are our first projects in Michigan, and part of a portfolio of over thirty projects with Chart House. The projects are located at First Lutheran Church in Muskegon, MI and Trinity African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Michigan’s capital of Lansing. Another project is currently under construction at the Trinity Health Arena in Muskegon, a 3,000 seat multi-purpose arena hosting sporting events, concerts, and more.
Our projects at First Lutheran, Trinity AME, and Trinity Health Arena will receive the IRA’s Energy Communities Adder, providing them with up to 10% in bonus investment tax credits (ITC) on top of the 30% federal ITC. Eligibility for this adder is location-dependent – the project must be in an area historically subjected to environmental consequences of the fossil fuel industry, whether due to industrial pollution or the past existence of a coal mine, for example. The Adder also can apply to areas with over 25% of tax revenue or employment related to the oil, coal, or natural gas industries, that also have an unemployment level at or above the national average. Both Muskegon and Lansing sit in the “Rust Belt,” having boasted an industrial boom, subsequent decline, and consequent poverty and pollution. The Energy Communities Adder is the perfect lever to stimulate the expansion of solar access into areas that struggle most from the impacts of climate change and the shift away from a fossil fuel economy.
Our 60 kW project at First Lutheran Church in Muskegon, MI.
Our project at First Lutheran totals 60 kW and will save the congregation $60,700 over its lifetime. Beyond their two weekly worship services, First Lutheran hosts a variety of events ranging from bible study and grief share – a weekly grief support group – to pickleball, yoga, history club, among others. Trinity African Methodist hosts a 26 kW solar array which will provide them with over $29,000 in lifetime energy savings to invest back into the congregation. Trinity AME, proudly the first African American Church in the city of Lansing, hosts weekly Sunday service, youth and adult church school, bible study, and prayer lines. Their pastor, Lila Martin, is the first female pastor of 43 pastors at Trinity AME.
At Trinity Health Arena, the project will total 450 kW and save the city of Muskegon almost $370,000 in lifetime energy savings. Trinity Health Arena is a central gathering space in downtown Muskegon for eating, recreation, and spectating. Connected to a luxury hotel, the Arena also boasts two of its own restaurants and hosts a variety of sporting events. Three professional sports teams — The Muskegon Lumberjacks, West Michigan Ironmen, and Muskegon Risers — and many recreational teams proudly call the Arena home. The Arena’s solar project will create almost sixteen solar job years, and combined, the three Michigan projects will create almost twenty. The projects will also remove over 12,000 metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere over their combined lifetimes.
We are proud to partner with Michigan organizations that are pillars of their communities and leading by example, showcasing the positive impacts of community-based solar. We are putting the IRA Energy Communities Adder to work, developing previously hard-to-finance projects and maximizing savings in historically disadvantaged communities. We look forward to further supporting the growth of Chart House and the Michigan solar economy as we utilize industry tailwinds – technological, financial, and policy advancements alike – and build a better energy future, one solar project at a time.
Interested in learning more about partnering with Sunwealth?