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Empowering economic development
Solar farms can help strengthen local economies by creating jobs, contributing significant property tax revenue, providing dependable revenue to landowners in order to supplement farm income, and bringing multi-million dollar annual operations budgets that are primarily spent in the region.
Solar farms create local jobs
With our solar projects we’re proud to be creating jobs and sustainable power, while helping mitigate climate change. In 2020, our projects created more than 1,500 global construction jobs in the local communities we work in with.
Investing in local solar workforce development
We want to do more for the community and focus on making solar jobs accessible to the local community, especially those who need them the most. Lightsource bp is a corporate sponsor of Grid Alternatives, a nationwide non-profit organization that is making clean, affordable solar power and solar jobs accessible to low-income communities and communities of color.
Working with Grid Alternatives, we sponsored a solar training program for un- and underemployed workers in Pueblo, Colorado that was held in July 2020. The program involved two weeks of free training, with an additional week afterward for one-on-one career planning. The program includes industry-recognized certifications, and while the primary goal of the program is to train participants for the solar industry, participants leave with valuable experiences that are transferable to the general construction, electrical, and mechanical trades. Graduates from the class were invited to interview for employment at our Bighorn Solar project.
Read some of our stories and other information to learn more about investing in local solar workforce development:
Solar land leasing creates revenue for landowners
Many of our solar farms are on land that is leased to Lightsource bp from local landowners, providing families with a new source of reliable revenue for 25 or more years, and helping keep the land in the family for generations. For farmers, the revenue from leasing a portion of their land can enable them to continue with their farming business and help get them through tough times when farm revenue is low.
Read some of our real life stories and other information to learn more about revenue for landowners.
We’ve been farming all our lives, owning 60 cows at one point and growing corn, wheat, alfalfa, and barley on what has become 700 aces in Franklin County, southwest of Harrisburg. Now we’re leasing some of our land for solar farming and bringing a new kind of use for our land and producing another consumer product, solar energy.
Glenn and Catherine Dice, landowners at one of our Penn State project sites
Tax revenue for local schools and other community public services
Our projects contribute millions of dollars in property tax revenues, benefitting local schools, street maintenance, fire stations, parks and other community public services.
“I am grateful that another company is investing significantly in Montgomery. This project will provide considerable support to Montgomery County schools, dollars the school systems otherwise would not receive. This is a major economic development project for the rural part of our county and will bring in a strong corporate partner in Lightsource bp.”
Elton Dean
Montgomery County Commission Chair
AMEA energy partner with Black Bear Solar
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Environmental sustainability
With solar farms having a life span of around 40 years, it’s important to us to be stewards of the land and long-term partners of local communities. We call our approach Responsible Solar.
Empowering education
We value education and help bring real-world experiences to the classroom through funding for research, internships, capstone projects, solar training, and so much more.