PSE grant awards to boost solar energy for these Whatcom County organizations
Three organizations in Whatcom County received grant funding through Puget Sound Energy to install solar panels on their buildings.
PSE Clean Energy Product Manager Leslie Myers Puget Sound Energy told The Bellingham Herald that PSE granted more than $900,000 to 12 organizations across Washington, with about $220,000 going to the three Whatcom County organizations — RE Sources, Nooksack Valley Food Bank and YWCA Bellingham. The funding was for the installation of solar panels, and each organization chooses where to purchase panels and who to hire.
Around $100,000 of the funding will go to the YWCA, according to CEO Alle Schene, who said they plan to work with Ecotech Solar in Bellingham to install the panels.
“It has been really great to be able to find ways to decrease some of our utility expenses so we can redirect that funding back into our programs,” Schene said.
Nooksack Valley Food Bank Director Amy Steele said having the solar panels will free her organization up to purchase more food and services. The panels, which they plan to install before summer through Western Solar, will generate more power than the food bank is currently using.
“I think it’s really exciting. We are not just doing something to benefit the environment … We are opening up that funding source to feed our community.”
The solar panels are expected to save the food bank about $4,800 a year on electricity, and will protect them from any future rate hikes, Steele said.
The food bank received more than $63,500 in funding through its grant. Steele expressed gratitude to the board members for the food bank and Western Solar for working through the application for the grant and PSE for making it possible.
RE Sources plans to have the panels installed in early June to take advantage of the longer summer days. The nonprofit received $60,111 in grant funding, and management hopes to install enough solar panels to provide over half the power used at the RE Store in Bellingham.
There are already some solar panels on the roof of the RE Store that were installed in 2019, and the organization has applied for a second grant they hope will provide another $25,000 for solar panel installation. RE Sources Co-Executive Director Janet Marino said she hopes to hear back on the second grant in the coming weeks.
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