DeepSummary
In this episode, Ephraim Jernigan, a former oil and gas worker turned solar advocate, gets solar panels installed on his elderly parents' home in the historically Black neighborhood of Sunnyside in Houston, leading to a surprisingly large credit on their electricity bill. Inspired by the potential savings, Jernigan starts pushing for a community solar project in his neighborhood, where many residents can't access rooftop solar due to being renters or lacking suitable roofs.
The city of Houston holds a competition to redevelop an old landfill site in Sunnyside, and Jernigan partners with an energy consultant, Dory Wolf, to propose turning it into a community solar farm with additional features like an outdoor classroom and community gardens. Despite initial skepticism from residents concerned about environmental contamination, Jernigan's team convinces the community and state regulators that the project can be safe by keeping public spaces separate from the capped landfill.
With the project gaining approval, Jernigan hopes it will bring affordable clean energy, green jobs, and economic benefits to Sunnyside, serving as a model for revitalizing underutilized sites through renewable energy while addressing environmental justice issues faced by historically disadvantaged communities.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Community solar projects can provide access to affordable clean energy for households that cannot install rooftop solar, such as renters or those without suitable roofs.
- Repurposing brownfields (contaminated or underutilized industrial sites) as 'brightfields' for renewable energy development offers a solution for siting these land-intensive projects while revitalizing neglected areas.
- Building community trust and addressing environmental justice concerns are crucial for successfully implementing renewable energy projects in disadvantaged communities that have historically borne the brunt of environmental hazards.
- The concept of 'community solar plus' incorporates additional community benefits beyond just generating clean energy, such as educational programs, community gardens, and economic opportunities.
- Overcoming skepticism and navigating regulatory hurdles requires persistence, community engagement, and collaboration with experienced developers to make ambitious renewable energy projects a reality.
- Federal policies and incentives like those in the Inflation Reduction Act can provide crucial support for scaling up community solar and 'brightfield' renewable development.
- Renewable energy projects in underserved communities can help address environmental injustices and bring economic benefits while advancing the transition to clean energy.
- The Sunnyside community solar project serves as a model for how renewable energy development can revitalize neglected areas, empower disadvantaged communities, and promote environmental justice.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “I went through the unemployment office, and pretty much a predominantly white crowd of people said, there are no jobs. Been all over the world. Didn't see any racism. But I saw it when I came home, owned the job, it was there. Opportunities didn't exist. You know, advancement didn't exist.“ by Ephraim Jernigan
- “Everything's getting ready to get started, and economics is getting ready to flow.“ by Ephraim Jernigan
- “The appeal of a community solar project is that it's a really. It's a local, tangible project that is a shared investment, if you will. And so, rather than one project on one rooftop, it's a project that might be able to serve the demand of 100 households. 100 rooftops.“ by Matthew Popkin
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Episode Information
The Big Switch
Dr. Melissa Lott
10/26/22
In this episode, a former oil-and-gas man named Efrem Jernigan catches the solar bug. Inspired by the potential for lower energy bills and green jobs, he looks into bringing solar to the neighborhood he grew up in, a historically black part of Houston called Sunnyside.
But for many Sunnyside residents, the technology is out of reach: Many are renters. Others lack roofs with sufficient sun. And still others simply don’t have the money to purchase expensive solar systems.
And it’s not just Sunnyside. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that less than half of American homes and businesses can install rooftop solar. So what are the solutions?
One answer, at least in Sunnyside, involves a controversial landfill that gets new life as a solar farm—specifically as something called a community solar project.
Matthew Popkin, a researcher at the energy thinktank RMI, talks about how community solar projects get around the barriers of rooftop panels. Also in this episode: how do we turn former industrial sites—also known as brownfields—into renewable projects?
The Big Switch is produced by Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy in partnership with Post Script Media. This episode was produced by Daniel Woldorff and Alexandria Herr Theme music and mixing by Sean Marquand. Story editing by Anne Bailey. A special thanks to Jen Wu, Natalie Volk and Kyu Lee. Our managing producer is Cecily Meza-Martinez. Our executive editor is Stephen Lacey.