Sunset Park Solar generates climate justice

Jairo Valencia

Sunset Park Solar generates climate justice
Elizabeth Yeampierre, Executive Director of UPROSE, and community partners launch Sunset Park Solar at Brooklyn Army Terminal. (Photo by Neha Gautam, Survival Media Agency.)

This summer, UPROSE and its partners marked the installation of a community-led solar array atop the Brooklyn Army Terminal, a clean-energy project designed to cut emissions and deliver bill credits to Sunset Park subscribers.

True to its climate-justice mission, UPROSE, a Latino community organization serving Sunset Park for nearly 60 years, helped assemble the partnership with the NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and Working Power. Supporters call the project a milestone for community-driven clean energy in New York City.

“It is the first time in the city’s history, and perhaps in the country, that a community is part of and integrates an energy-production alliance, within a clean model like photovoltaic solar,” said Elizabeth Yeampierre, UPROSE’s executive director. “In addition, all participants trusted our proposal while preserving the ideal of climate justice, which guarantees a viable option that contributes to the well-being of communities and the planet.”

NYCEDC president and CEO Andrew Kimball said the Army Terminal is emerging as a hub for climate innovation and called the project a model for providing clean, reliable and affordable energy for the neighborhood.

Working Power supported financing, design, installation and operations planning for the system, which spans 45,000 square feet and is expected to produce about 725 MWh of electricity a year.

Sunset Park Solar follows a community-solar model, where 200 subscribers, local residents and small businesses, receive automatic credits on their ConEd bills, resulting in a guaranteed savings of at least 15%.

The subscriber fees, built into their ConEd bill, help cover operating costs, with all remaining proceeds going into a Sunset Park community wealth fund for projects that benefit the entire community.

“This community solar project is really exciting,” said Council Member Alexa Avilés, who represents District 38, which includes Sunset Park. She pointed to three reasons it matters for the neighborhood: accessibility for households that cannot put panels on their own roofs, direct community benefit through bill savings for subscribers, and the potential to replicate the model on other buildings.

Founded in 1966 and based in Sunset Park, UPROSE is considered Brooklyn’s oldest Latino community organization, focused on climate justice, community planning and sustainable development.