This year is the 5-year anniversary of the opening of The Maycroft, part of Jubilee’s 50-year arc of justice efforts. As we celebrate this milestone, we reflect on the power of persistence, partnership, and innovation surrounding the completion of The Maycroft, which catalyzed Jubilee to understand its work as Justice Housing®.
50th Anniversary Stories
Solar For All: A Pathway toward Environmental Justice
As the District grapples with issues of economic justice and environmental sustainability, a collaborative initiative to integrate solar energy solutions with affordable housing developments has redefined access to both for low-income residents. DC’s Solar For All program aims to bring the benefits of solar energy to 100,000 low- to moderate-income families in the District. The city partners with organizations to install solar panels on single-family homes and develop “community solar” projects that benefit multi-family building residents.
This collaboration was led by New Partners Community Solar, a DC-based nonprofit that “finances, develops, and facilitates solar in Washington, DC” according to Co-founder Jeff Lesk.
New Partners Community Solar was tasked with the first community solar project in Washington, DC, an unprecedented undertaking. To navigate the complexities of the Solar For All initiative, creating partnerships across various key institutions was crucial. Among these partnerships were DC’s Department of Energy, Jubilee Housing, and Pepco.
As Jeff notes, “We had to find the real estate community to put the solar… the financial community to work with the debt and equity that needed to take place…we needed to work with local government, the District Department of Energy and Environment, to provide a grant to us to prove out this concept. We relied in large part on the pro bono legal services of Nixon Peabody… Finally, we had to work with the local utility who was charged with directing power to residents throughout the city in a way that they never had to do before.”
Through the collaborative partnerships, “DC’s first-of-its-kind effort to channel the benefits of solar plus storage to low-income housing residents” came to fruition. Jubilee Housing’s Maycroft Apartments became the site of the pioneered integration of renewable energy through the Solar For All program, hosting “a 70.2-kilowatt (kW) rooftop solar array.
Under this program, participating Maycroft residents have received monthly credits that reduce their electric bills. This is just one of the many benefits. Beyond the needed cuts to residents’ electric bills, solar energy has offered a sustainable alternative for energy needs, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and other high carbon sources. The program has opened doors to green energy for communities that have previously faced barriers to access. Additionally, it has improved the quality of life for the most rent-burdened residents while promoting environmental sustainability and economic empowerment.
New Partners Community Solar and Jubilee Housing took the project further: the panels power batteries for a unique on-site Resiliency Center. In the event a grid-wide power outage, the batteries are capable of powering a community space for up to three days — providing refrigeration for medication and perishables and outlets to charge personal and medical devices .
Overall, Solar For All represents a vital step towards equitable energy access and fosters resilience and sustainability within low-income communities.
In the evolving discourse surrounding affordable housing and the adoption of renewable energy solutions, Solar For All stands as a model of innovation and collaboration, exemplifying a transformative approach towards creating accessibility to renewable energy resources for underserved communities.
“Jeff Lesk and Herb Stevens [of New Partners Community Solar] spent many decades helping develop high impact affordable housing across the country and counseling developers and financiers,” says Jim Knight, Jubilee Housing President and CEO. “They often lead the way into new frontiers of financing solutions with Low Income Housing Tax Credits, New Markets Tax Credits, and more. Leave it to them to see the gap in bringing the financial benefits of solar energy to residents of affordable housing communities.”