PIVOT ENERGY

Community Engagement

We engage with community members early and often in all stages of our solar projects, actively investing in every community we operate in and collaborating with local stakeholders to develop our community benefits plan.

PIVOT ENERGY

Community Engagement

ABOUT

Our Commitment to Community Engagement

Community engagement is central to our work. We are committed to delivering affordable, reliable renewable electricity, and providing more energy choices to households. By working with local community members and organizations, we develop impactful projects that increase local resiliency and contribute to lowering the cost of energy. We have a dedicated community engagement team and we want to hear your feedback.

Pivot establishes a community investment fund for each project. With input from stakeholders, we fund initiatives such as providing energy bill assistance to working families, partnering with community colleges to develop local workforce development training programs, or supporting agricultural initiatives like local 4-H Extensions programs that strengthen rural economies and support youth education.

Our Approach

Community Education and Listening Sessions

We know that communities need access to timely, quality information to make educated decisions about projects. We prioritize transparency, accountability and setting achievable goals when collaborating with communities, to ensure voices are heard and feedback is incorporated.

We host site tours, offer career panels, and provide education and training opportunities.

We conduct proactive outreach with a broad range of stakeholders, and participate and support community events.

We work directly with neighbors to devise a farm-friendly land management plan.

OUR MESSAGE

The Economic Benefits of Community Solar

We demystify terms like "community solar," "solar garden," and "shared solar" because they all mean the same thing: joining forces with your neighbors to benefit from affordable solar energy projects.

Community solar allows many who might not otherwise have access to solar energy to enjoy its benefits. Without community solar, roughly half of all American consumers and businesses would be incapable of accessing solar energy, meaning they’d largely miss out on the economic benefits.

Individual Benefits

Community solar subscribers can save on their monthly utility bills without installing equipment on their property. This makes renewable energy more affordable and accessible, reducing energy bills and contributing to long-term cost savings for many in your community.

"This program literally saved my life and enabled my family to breathe easy this holiday season, now that we are finally caught up. I can’t say it enough, thank you for all that you do and for being so thorough and helpful." – Energy Outreach Colorado Participant

Shared Benefits

The benefits of local community solar projects extend beyond individual subscribers. They also provide:

Specialized

Pivot recognizes each community has a unique set of needs, interests, and priorities. Our community benefit plans are tailored to your community.

Preservation

We help maintain community traditions and land conservation by implementing agricultural practices that improve soil quality and protect the land. Pivot invests in agricultural groups, such as 4-H extensions and the farming and soil research departments at local educational institutions.

Jobs

Solar projects create well-paying job opportunities in construction, engineering, operations and maintenance, and more. Additionally, we hire local tenant farmers, shepherds, apiaries, and other land stewardship experts.

Funding

Solar farms generate hundreds of thousands of dollars of property taxes over their operational lives. This is a new stream of funds for schools, police and first responders, libraries, and roads.

Resiliency

Distributed energy resources like solar offer resiliency during grid outages. These energy sources leave utilities with more options during severe weather.

Affordability

Diversification and lowered technology costs have increased competition within the market. Energy scarcity drives up prices, energy abundance keeps prices stable, secure, and affordable.

To date, Pivot has the most solar grazing sites of any solar developer in the US. Over 95% of the solar sites we operate include the land stewardship practices listed below. The other 5% are either located on roofs or on brownfield sites where these practices do not apply:

Comply with all local wildlife and wetland regulations.
Cultivate pollinator-friendly grasses to support healthy soil and forage productivity.
Complete archaeological and cultural resources surveys.
Pre-establish plans for recycling and reusing equipment.
Diligently sourcing all our materials, ensuring that we do not support forced labor practices.

Additionally, we are implementing the following agrivoltaic practices across select sites to learn more about the economic and ecosystem implications:

Arrange for beekeepers to produce honey on location.
Have sheep graze the vegetation, making mechanical mowing obsolete in the array area.
Crop production between rows, starting with alfalfa (hay) at certain sites.
Research projects to measure carbon sequestration benefits, ecosystem benefits, and soil health indicators.

Certified B Corporation

As a B Corp, we meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability. This means we are dedicated to making a positive impact not just through our solar projects, but in everything we do. These values motivate us to go the extra mile to support your community.