Funding will support Common Energy’s rapid growth, enabling the business to bring local, clean energy to more consumers and support more distributed energy projects across the country
Common Energy, one of the country’s leading community solar providers, today announced a $16.5 million investment by S2G Ventures, the direct investment team of Builders Vision, an impact platform dedicated to building a humane and healthy planet.
The new round of capital will be used to expand consumer access to local, community solar projects across the country, scale Common Energy’s industry-leading energy management platform, and grow the company’s management and operating teams.
“Renewable energy is the foundation for solving global climate change because abundant clean electricity enables all other decarbonization solutions,” said Richard Keiser, CEO and Founder of Common Energy. “This investment will enable Common Energy to accelerate our efforts to bring clean energy to more households and communities across the country, and to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
Community solar projects are local clean energy projects that connect to the electrical grid. Clean electricity from the projects replaces energy from fossil fuels, lowering carbon emissions and pollution for the entire community. Households and businesses in the area can sign up to support a project for free with their existing utility account and receive energy credits that lower their bill each month. Because there is no on-site installation, community solar expands renewable energy access to all strata of society, including renters and lower income families.
For project owners, Common Energy’s platform is a sophisticated, cloud-based SAAS that enables them to manage and monetize complex, multi-tenant distributed generation projects. Common Energy’s software platform provides industry-leading financial and collections visibility, resulting in higher project ROI for its clients, and can be customized to facilitate reporting and accounting.
“Community solar is an important option for broadening access to clean and cost-effective renewable energy across the US, and we are excited to be supporting the Common Energy team as they deploy their sophisticated platform to accelerate adoption of this resource,” said Dr. Francis O’Sullivan, Managing Director, S2G Ventures.
“Community solar plays a valuable part in the United States' national energy strategy because it advances clean energy deployment in a way that allows many households to promote solar energy while reducing energy costs,” said Dr. Ernest Moniz, U.S. Secretary of Energy under President Obama and Common Energy advisor.
The U.S. community solar market is expected to continue to grow rapidly. In 2021, U.S. Energy Secretary Granholm announced a national goal of installing enough community solar capacity to power 5 million American homes by 2025, implying over 600% market growth.
To learn more about Common Energy’s goals and vision, see Richard’s blog post here.
To join Common Energy’s mission, see our careers page here.
About Common Energy
Common Energy is a leading community solar provider that services distributed energy projects across the country. Common Energy’s programs enable homeowners, renters, and businesses to support clean energy, lower emissions in their communities and save money on their electricity for free, with their existing utility account. To join a community solar project, enroll at www.commonenergy.us. Developers with community solar portfolios please email partners@commonenergy.us.
About S2G Ventures
S2G Ventures, the direct investment team of Builders Vision, partners with entrepreneurs who are working on solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges across the food, agriculture, oceans, and clean energy markets. We provide capital, mentorship, and value-added resources to companies pursuing innovative market-based solutions that generate positive social, environmental, and financial returns. We provide our partners with flexible capital solutions that can range from seed and venture funding through growth equity to debt and infrastructure financing. For more information about S2G, visit s2gventures.com, tune-in to our podcast, or connect with us on LinkedIn.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220510005418/en/
Contacts
Josh Garrett, Redwood Climate Communications for Common Energy
press@commonenergy.us
