On November 18th, a group of elected officials from both parties in California celebrated the launch of the first community solar project in the Central Valley with Dimension Energy. Joe Henri from Dimension Energy, along with Senator Anna Caballero, Congressman Devon Mathis, Raja Ramesh from the California Energy Commission, and community organizer Melynda Metheney, gathered in front of a solar array just 10 minutes away from downtown Visalia to promote the many benefits of community solar energy. Valley residents.

Dimension Energy is proud to bring affordable energy solutions to the residents of the Central Valley, "said Joe Henri of Dimension Energy. We hope this is just the beginning. We envision establishing a truly effective community solar and storage project throughout California that will enable more farmers and landowners to host these facilities, protect agricultural land within their homes, while creating employment opportunities and generating clean energy locally

The Visalia project is one of three new community solar pilot programs developed by Dimension Energy in the Central Valley, and is also part of the state's Vulnerable Community Green Tariff (DAC-GT) program. The other two projects of the pilot program are located in Cocoon and Lemore. These three projects will provide clean solar power to over 3700 low-income valley residents at a 20% discount, saving an average of $40 per month for households.

Dimension strives to ensure the localization of benefits for each project, collaborating with trusted community organizations such as Proteus and Self Help Enterprises to provide affordable clean energy to residents in greatest need, and sponsoring workforce development programs to ensure high-quality work for every project. According to the latest census data, 50% of the population in Tuleri County does not speak English: a significant portion of registered residents speak Spanish, and all of Dimension's community partners also speak Spanish.

The DAC-GT program ended earlier this year, making these pilot community solar projects the first and last of their kind. Ideally, these projects would become a model for CPUC as it considers how to deploy the $250 million Solar For All funding allocated by the Environmental Protection Agency this spring. Federal funding provides an opportunity to launch and expand community solar energy programs across the state.

The event speaker emphasized that if PUC deploys most of the federal funds this fall to expand community solar across the state, it will bring additional benefits to households in the Central Valley.