CIC Energy and Team Impact serve as inaugural members of the National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP), an initiative led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office, and continue beyond the Energy Justice to the People Roadshow last summer. At the end of 2021, through 2022 and currently Team Impact’s energy and environmentally focused coalition continues to expand. On May 5th, CIC Energy was announced the American Made Prize Phase I award, and notably the lone winner in Texas.
Join us in Port Arthur at DOE Office of Energy Justice and Equity event November 13th & 14th
November 13, 2023: Community Benefits Planning Event @ Port Arthur, TX
Join the DOE, Community In-power & Department Association Inc., Sweetwater Energy Services, CIC Energy for a hands-on Community Benefits Planning workshop to learn what Community Benefits Plans are, how they can be developed and more about DOE funded projects in your area that will be developing Community Benefits Plans. Register HERE TODAY to reserve your spot.
November 14, 2023: Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program Event @ Port Arthur, TX
Following the Community Benefits Planning event, DOE, CIDA and CIC Energy will provide an overview of the Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program (48(e)), discuss the local contexts around solar energy development that are helpful to understand towards advancing local solar energy projects, and hold a guided space where solar developers, community-based organizations, and others can have a discussion around solar energy projects in Port Arthur. Register HERE TODAY to reserve your spot with free food and soft drinks for all participants. Hosted by the Community In-power & Department Association Inc.
A Texas Size Challenge for Community Solar
Texas is not exactly fertile ground for planning a community solar opportunity. Granted, Texas is a renewable energy leader in wind and has been since T Boone Pickens and Skelly days. Aside from wind, the Lone Star State ranked #2 national in 2022[i] powered, powers almost 2M homes, however, the state only generates less than 5% from solar PV in the TX grid. This is a TEXAS SIZE OPPORTUNITY! The state further boasts 617 companies with 99 manufacturers, 243 installers/developers, and almost 300 outliers performing various energy efficient and related services.
As of 2022, Texas claimed $20B in solar investments, meanwhile the price has fallen 53% over the past decade. Hold on folks, modest projections place Texas as #1 in solar power generation and forecast an increase to 34GW over next five years. Solar PV is a Texas Size Opportunity indeed, but will the Texas legislature address the opportunity or continue to subsidize dinosaurs?
Today is the day to realize the national goal of 30% solar PV generation in the United States by 2030. While this will never happen, let’s enable communities that need it most to capitalize and save given they bear the biggest burden, and in Port Arthur, their health continues to suffer.
Team Impact: An equitable model for energy reform, energy justice and of energy equity
CIC Energy, along with the Houston Advanced Resource Center (HARC), Community In-Power and Development Association, Inc. (CIDA), Mills Agriculture & Renewable Energy, LLC (MARE), and the Center for Sustainable Communities (CSC) are the founding members of Team Impact. Our Impact aims to modernize community grids and increase solar workforce capacity within historically underserved communities by developing a community solar portfolio in Port Arthur, TX.
Port Arthur, TX
Port Arthur, is a an ideal showcase, with 25% of Port Arthur’s 55,000 residents living below the poverty line. The community is primarily African American, followed by Hispanic communities with unemployment rate historically 2x below the state average. As a refinery mecca, Port Arthur is plagued by environmental pollution that has largely been ignored by authorities and corporations that caused it Team Impact focuses on Port Arthur's communities in the most need and the most affected by socioeconomic, as well as racial disparities and environmental contamination. The time is now to counter this history of environmental, climate, and racial injustice and deliver residents new economic opportunities. Join us this November and let our collective voices resonate loudly!