Here’s a quick hypothetical example: Let’s say you purchase a solar PV system for $5,600 with a loan at 3% interest from the City. The life of the loan is 20 years. Your monthly payment to the City is $31.06. However, your solar system is generating $31.50 per month in electricity, so your solar PV system is not really costing you anything. Rather, you’re saving a few extra cents every month. Over the 25-year lifespan of the solar PV system, utility rates will undoubtedly increase while your monthly loan repayment remains the same. So, you continue to save more and more money while generating clean, safe electricity even after you’ve re-paid your loan. Since the solar system is tied to the grid, there are no storage or shortage issues. The grid provides you with electricity when your solar system cannot, but when your solar system provides more electricity than you need, the extra goes to the grid. Loans for energy efficiency measures would work the same way.

 

With clean energy, we can reduce air pollution and subsequent health problems like asthma. We can protect our rivers and aquifers from power plants and oil and gas production and safeguard wildlife that cannot co-exist with oil and gas wells and carbon emissions. We can even strengthen our economy with the establishment of green collar jobs and support our real estate market with more energy efficient homes and offices.

The transition to a renewable economy is 100% doable and the Solar Santa Fe Initiative is one way we can make this happen. After successful implementation in Santa Fe, WildEarth Guardians plans to take this effort to Albuquerque and other cities in New Mexico. By combining innovative solutions to our energy crisis, we are confident New Mexico can light the way to a clean energy future. And with your help, this is just the beginning.

Rebecca Sobel is Conservation Organizer for WildEarth Guardians.
Contact: 505-988-9126, www.wildearthguardians.org