Across the state, families are feeling the pain of skyrocketing utility bills. Electricity bills here in New Jersey are up more than 22% from a year ago—one of the highest increases in the nation. It’s no wonder that Gov. Mikie Sherrill ran and won on a platform to lower energy costs.
I’m fortunate to be a member of the Interdisciplinary Advisory Task Force for Gov. Sherrill, who has pledged to “massively expand cheaper, cleaner power generation.” On her first day in office, Gov. Sherrill signed a series of executive orders, one of which will speed up community solar project development and construction, helping generate more power and lower costs for New Jerseyans. At Greater Bergen Community Action (GBCA), we’ve experienced the cost-saving potential of community solar firsthand.
Our mission at GBCA is to address the causes and conditions of persistent economic instability — one of which is utility insecurity. Nationally, one in six households is behind on their gas or electric bills. As energy bills continue to climb and federal support stagnates, many low-to-moderate income families are being squeezed from both sides. That’s where community solar comes in.
Community solar allows residents to subscribe to a shared local solar project and receive credits on their utility bills for the clean energy produced. Since 2024, Greater Bergen Community Action has been working with Dimension Energy, a community solar developer, to enroll our members in affordable community solar programs.
Dimension invested $2 million to support the work of local partners connecting New Jersey residents with community solar, and our partnership has helped establish a sustainable revenue stream for our organization. And most importantly, Dimension delivered these projects and these critical savings for families on time.
Over the past year, GBCA has registered 1,000 residents for community solar. To our awareness, this is the largest number of households enrolled by any community action partner in the state. These residents are saving an average of $600 on annual utility costs. That’s make-or-break money for people who are living paycheck to paycheck.
It can be difficult to identify residents who would most benefit from the savings offered by community solar. Community action partners like us are a particularly good place to help connect New Jerseyans who could benefit most from community solar to local projects offering utility savings. We’re trusted partners in the community who are well-positioned to help residents lower their cost of living and drive savings at scale in low-income neighborhoods.
Our team at GBCA worked with a variety of community and client-serving organizations, including local churches, adult daycare centers, food pantry clients, senior centers, and First Bergen Federal Credit Union to find people who could benefit most from this discount. We also worked within our existing programs, including home energy assistance, lead remediation, and weatherization, to offer an additional service to the members of the community we were already serving.
While we initially encountered some hesitation among residents who had been taken advantage of by door-to-door pitches before, the channels of trust we’d built in the community over decades of operation allowed us to effectively communicate the benefits of community solar. From there, the opportunity spread by word of mouth, and Dimension’s team offered various tools that made it easy to connect our members with these projects.
We’ve already seen what this model can do. More than 140 megawatts of community solar are up and running across the state, serving thousands of households. More than half of the subscribers are low- and moderate-income residents, people who have too often been left out of the energy transition. Community solar flips that script by delivering both economic and environmental benefits directly to the people who need them most.
This summer, former Gov. Murphy signed legislation to “unlock an additional 3,000 megawatts (MW-dc) of community solar—enough to power more than half a million households across the state.” This was an important step in the right direction, one that puts New Jersey in a great place to help lead our clean energy future.
Gov. Sherrill has a tremendous opportunity at her fingertips to expand community solar and bring down costs for New Jerseyans. Community action partners like Greater Bergen should also be on the lookout for opportunities to enroll their members in community solar—it’s an indisputable way to provide value to families struggling to make ends meet.
